Lagniappe

“I bet I know
where you got
them shoes”
he said (teeth
covered in rain)
tears boarded
a blue train
blissful
like a sick
grandmother
conjuring great
spirits from
the past
always a little
something extra
optimistic
touchable
pulsed
the slave quarters
finally gone
nature’s reclaimed
trade
that boy with
metal money
and what he
said
don’t say he’s
dead
I hear something
locomotive
the Dauphine
in me is coming
home
wherever that
might be