a special resonance

didn't attend the 2nd day of Cajun fest
ostensibly for reasons of rest

seven hours of overstimulation is great

but two days in a row
before a workday seemed reckless

besides there were gardens to plant
and kids to schlep

neither of which actually materialized
leaving me time to sink into

the depth of an encounter
i'd been avoiding recognition of

with a couple Cajuns

___________

there are perfectly good reasons for this avoidance
and indeed it has been complicated to face

but the fact is i was quite torn about missing
Mr. Daigrepont's second day performance
and informal talk

it was either going to be a bit disappointing
or more likely even more inspiring

either of which i did not need

to add fuel to the fire
of a misplaced dream

arriving before its time

_________

i understand what a friend feels now

for as she is not a Celt
i am not Cajun

yet find myself crying
to songs i don't even understand the words to

and shaking uncontrollably on the dance floor
to blissful polyrhythms driving
a tent of hundreds of swing and folk dancers
amidst very accessible roots music

where does this resonance come from
understanding so palpable

such eye contact and connection to the players
amidst five hundred dancers

that when i bought a CD afterward
and offered that I thoroughly enjoyed the music

the man lights up and says
I could tell!

________

i could write of a sound and rhythm
that can only be understood by those
who have journeyed long and through deprivation

and without knowing whether home
would ever find its way to them again

and so finding solace in the unyielding emptiness
from which paradoxically rises

the most indescribable strength
drawing up from one's own roots

the simple songs and ancestral voices
the gritty smile won through tenacity

gratitude for the indulgences we are afforded
in such moments of communal celebration

and the dance

_______

fawning over the fiddler
a large woman with a glint in her eye

something was mentioned about
coming to New Orleans

to jam

that's when i began losing my ground
and wading back

knowing there are dozens of songs to learn
and such groundwork to lay

that it was time to graciously go

i would neither confuse issues
of endorphin-rich states
with this fiddler

nor turn toward another long hard soul road beckoning

by letting myself dream
of moving to New Orleans

just yet