It started out as hail this morning, but has turned to snow
Which happened last here in New Orleans fifteen years go
Those who came south for sunny climes are in for quite a shock
To see the trees decked with the real stuff instead of fake flock
Perhaps Heatmiser struck a side deal with his brother, Snow,
And somewhere further to the North are suntanned Eskimos
The children are all fascinated by the flakes of white
And burn up cell phone minutes squealing in peals of delight
While parents look outside in wonder at their cars and lawns
and at their poor thermometers, whose red has all but gone
Of course, it being Christmas day, the city’s all shut down;
but had it been a weekday, you can bet that in this town
there’d be a halt to everything except the drinking halls
’cause no one here knows how to deal with sleet, and the snowballs
they’re used to seeing are shaved ice with flavored syrup in,
and driving is peril enough — wait ’til the ice begins
to set and fill the potholes. Then we’ll see a wondrous sight:
folks who can’t drive well normally out skidding Christmas night.
And it’s a Christmas snow — it happened only just today;
But it’s New Orleans. Blink, and it will quickly go away.
25 DEC 2004
