{"id":11056,"date":"2015-02-01T06:25:29","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T12:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burgersdogspizza.com\/?p=11056"},"modified":"2015-02-01T06:25:29","modified_gmt":"2015-02-01T12:25:29","slug":"mardi-gras-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/?p=11056","title":{"rendered":"Mardi Gras 2015 Poem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mardi<\/a>I had never been to a Mardi Gras celebration until I moved to New Orleans. What I learned living there, is that \u00a0for the locals, it’s a great opportunity for family activities, far away from the tourism debauchery in the Quarter. \u00a0I was \u00a0‘inspired’ one year to write this Mardi Gras poem, which will resonate with locals more than tourists. \u00a0You still have nearly two weeks of\u00a0Carnival season left for this year. Eat a muffaletta<\/a>. \u00a0 If you can’t make it, put it on your bucket list! \u00a0In the meantime, many of the biggest parades will be streamed on NOLA’s WDSU TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Night Before Mardi Gras<\/strong><\/p>\n

Twas the night before Mardi Gras, and all through the burb,
\nDenizens were in place to see the parades, even lining the curb;<\/p>\n

The beads were hung from the floats with care,
\nIn anticipation of the throngs that would soon be there;<\/p>\n

The children were nestled all snug in the car,
\nDreaming of doubloons tossed from afar;<\/p>\n

Mamma in her toga, and me in my mask,
\nI was all tuckered out from my bead buying task.<\/p>\n

When out in the street there arose such a clatter,
\nI sprang from my perch to see what was the matter.<\/p>\n

Away to the neutral ground I flew like flash,
\nTripped over the Landreau sign and fell face down in the trash.<\/p>\n

The sun was just rising on the St. Charles line
\nGiving the impression parade day would be fine.<\/p>\n

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
\nBut the homeowner in his robe, his shouting so crass,
\nSaying, \u201dHey, you buddy, get the hell off my grass!<\/p>\n

A curmudgeonly old man, so lively and quick,<\/p>\n

I knew in a moment he was a tourist, he acted like such a dick,
\nAnd he whistled, and shouted, and called me some name;
\nIt was obvious to me, he didn\u2019t understand the game.<\/p>\n

I looked around before leaving, to see what was the matter
\nBut no I hadn\u2019t forgotten anything, Not even my ladder.<\/p>\n

I gathered my things, and got ready to view
\nThe amazing display that would be put on by the Krewe.<\/p>\n

I was ready as ready, me, Mr. Jimmy Crackcorn
\nI even had fresh double A\u2019s, to use in my bullhorn.<\/p>\n

I had borrowed a kid from some neighbor named Jim
\nSo I could point to the toddler and say, \u201cHey the throws are for him!\u201d<\/p>\n

We worked all night on the \u201cWe\u2019re from\u2026\u201d signs
\nMany places listed, the more exotic the better<\/p>\n

After seeing all those, will they guess we\u2019re from Kenner?
\nContinuing my mental tick list of things, forgetting the old coot,<\/p>\n

Yep, I had my umbrella and shrimp nets, to help catch the loot.<\/p>\n

I was stuffed with King cake, the tasty treats screamed \u201ceat us\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019d eat a lot more, if the toy didn\u2019t look like a fetus.
\nThe middles are not plain, but now stuffed with a filling
\nSince McKensies went bankrupt, small bakers make a killing.<\/p>\n

I heard the music, the parade was near
\nWhen what to my wondering eyes should appear<\/p>\n

Floats so lovely, adorned in things so bold
\nAnd trimmed of course in green, purple, and gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t get enough!\u201d I thought, so I recounted them all
\n\u201cNow, Zulu! now, Rex! Now, Endymion and Proteus!
\nTo the end of St. Charles! to the top of Canal!<\/p>\n

Then fade away! fade away! fade away all!\u201d<\/p>\n

“Damn I\u2019m thirsty,\u201d I thought, as I took a swig of my booze
\n\u201cI hope I don\u2019t have to pee before I see all of the Krewes!\u201d<\/p>\n

And then he appeared, the King of the Day,
\nHe laughed and he chortled, and got ready to play.
\nHe spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
\nReached in his sack, then turned with a jerk,
\nAnd laying his finger aside of his nose,
\nAnd giving a nod, skyward went the throws!<\/p>\n

The beads, candy and toys all flew like rain,<\/p>\n

Me and ma were so drunk, we was feelin\u2019 no pain.<\/p>\n

The kids were getting trampled, ordinarily a horror
\nBut not today cause someone nearby was surely a lawyer!
\nThe crowds were noisy, their hearts were a thumpin\u2019,
\nAs they cried in unison, “Hey Mister, throw me sumpin!”<\/p>\n

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mardi gras 2015<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had never been to a Mardi Gras celebration until I moved to New Orleans. What I learned living there, is that \u00a0for the locals, it’s a great opportunity for family activities, far away from the tourism debauchery in the Quarter. \u00a0I was \u00a0‘inspired’ one year to write this Mardi Gras poem, which will resonate… Continue reading Mardi Gras 2015 Poem<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,25],"tags":[2206,2421],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11056"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}