Weaknights in New Orleans

poem for and after Lil Wayne

Met a female dragon, had a fire conversation
told me tall tales about her reptilian origins,
how she spent her days polishing knight off her claws,
then coughed up a smokescreen, tipped the waitress in soot,
filled her flask with the last of the gasoline, and

sent me to drown at the bottom of the volcano;
said to look out for the mantle, the ones who ignore it 
pay with their heads either way.

¹art by Pragna Gaddamedi (@prgs.jpeg)

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Poetry Tip of the Day!

I get a LOT of inspiration from music. I like to think I have range, and I hope all the songs I’ve been posting with my instagram posts (@44poetry) further prove that. But most of the time, if I’m driving or working or at the gym on my own, I’m listening to rap. Lil Wayne was one of the first rappers to introduce me to the genre, so it was inevitable that I dedicate a poem to him. It always takes me a few listens to fully appreciate the way he manipulates language. There’s a charisma to how he delivers metaphor, and it’s something I try to mimic in my writing here. The first line is from Drake and Lil Wayne’s song HYFR. The rest is yours truly.

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1. return of the beast