Today I took a walk in my neighborhood, and from a distance, this one bright red rose stood out amid weeds as if saying,” Look At Me!” Then I notice the yellow daisy-like flowers that we used to call” Pee-Pee flowers” and thought this was an unlikely pair, but they still managed to create a beautiful backdrop on this nearly condemned and forgotten street in New Orleans. As soon as I snapped the picture, this Lil young guy said, “How ya doing, Ma? You look just as pretty as that flower! Have a beautiful day.” It was such a New Orleans Day!
I think of my childhood bullies and my Lil sister Dionne when I see” Pee-Pee Flowers cuz I always used to say” No they, not No Pee-Pee flowers” after I was so-called cursed with being the Pee-Pee Girl cuz I touched the not so pissy flowers; followed by making my sister feel and smell them too. I couldn’t let my sister believe that a flower we loved needed to be avoided because of the Lil mean azz kids who used to tease and taunt my flower picking self. I now wonder if they called them “Pee-Pee Flowers” because they were yellow? Do you know why?
Like seeds thrown to the wayside, taking root in the cracks of the concrete and hard soil that somehow manage to grow without substance and protection from the cruel days. Sprouting leaves like tongues waiting for a drop of rain to quench their thirst. Surprisingly they grow with lack and without out care. They do so by stretching, bending, arching, and wrapping the roots of others, turning over the very concrete bricks that were meant to stunt their growth until they tap into free-flowing waters of the river. They thrive by surviving together, just like the people of New Orleans.
Dat NOLA Chic 