Conti Street partment

dust devil swirled up from the ground
spun itself into the air
funnel widened at the top
whipped by the wind
then it was gone
poof
what the hell
if we're looking for meaning
in life
true meaning
dust devils may hold the key
in the watermelon smells of summer
some gulls hovering above me
summoned by the dust devils
maybe
why they called that anyway
dust devils
I'm in a courtyard
in the center of some apartments
Conti Street
New Orleans
been here before
that's why I'm back
I like what I found here
been coming back a long time
courtyard, like the apartments
showing age
algae-streaked limestone fountain
sits almost embarrassingly
in the middle of the courtyard
with a carved water basin
overgrown with hyacinths
as I wait
for Consuelo I look upward at the sky
not one cloud do I see
just a flamboyant peacock blue sky
I'd only seen on children's crayons
ah
Consuelo appears
top of the stairs of the second floor apartments
an off-the-shoulder gown
colorful African splashes and swatches
kerchief tied around her head
like a field worker
on her it reeks of royalty
she draws her long neck
toward the bluer than blue sky
like a cobra
I wait for the hissing and the spitting
didn't come
instead a smile
that tingled my scrotum
as she glided down the stairs
queen-like
I stood
she slid her arm
into the crook of mine
and the world was ours