04/18/2024
“Don't you just love those long rainy afternoons in New Orleans when an hour isn't just an hour - but a little piece of eternity dropped into your hands - and who knows what to do with it?”
- Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire
A Poem: Let It Rain
Ya can’t stop da rain
When it wantsta come down
Especially in New Orleans
Where people do drown
Ya can dress up all pretty
To getcha friendly going on
But when it rains in New Orleans
It might rain ‘til dawn
So ya make your way inside
To da nearest bar
Cuz when da streets flood
You don’t wanna be found in ya car
Once ya inside da bar
Ya find a nice warm chair
Ya getcha yaself a drink
And ya let down ya hair
Ya take off ya wet shoes
And ya put up ya feet
Cuz before ya know it
A nice dude ya might meet
As da drinks get to flowin’
Ya forget about da rain
The conversation gets good
Nobody’s feeling’ no pain
So ya can dress up all pretty
To getcha friendly going on
Cuz when it rains in New Orleans
It might get friendly til dawn
© 2023 Jeffrey Pipes Guice
This particular poem was inspired by Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, who was an American playwright and screenwriter. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays, and a volume of memoirs.
At age 33, after years of obscurity, Williams suddenly became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. He introduced "plastic theatre" in this play and it closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961).
