Born and bred in Louisiana...
I am proud of who I am.
Raised on rice and red bean gravy...
Hot cakes and homemade fig jam.
A Pan of Couche Couche
Sometimes Couche Couche in the morning...
Sometimes Chicken Stew for lunch.
Daddy always called it dinner
But Cajun people love to munch.
Downtown New Iberia
A childhood filled with good french music...
Coupled with some great Country...
I learned the words to Jole’ Blonde... Walking The Floor when barely three.
We worked hard Monday through Friday
Picking cotton row by row.
Saturdays at the Evangeline
We'd see a moving picture show.
The Evangeline Theatre...Historical landmark
Back then twelve cents bought a ticket
To a cowboy matinee.
It was Tex, Gene, Roy, or Hoppy...
All were heroes of the day.
Starched and ironed on Sunday mornings
With my ribbons neatly pressed...
Mama would make sure her children
Went to church looking their best.
Historical New Iberia Church
Mom and Daddy have vacated
Their rustic oak tree lined abode...
But their memories keep dancing
Along each Louisiana road.
If there's a Cajun part of Heaven
I'm sure there's music in the air.
And I'm almost sure the Good Lord
Is serving Blackened Red Fish there.
Blackened Redfish
I can almost see my future
With a rod and reel in hand,
Casting on some crystal river
Up there in Heaven's Cajunland.
Doris Jacobs-Covington
November 17, 2013
~~Dedicated to my sister, Shirley, and all my
Cajun kin and Cajun(and would be Cajun) friends
and to the memory of Mama and Daddy and my
siblings, Ginny and Henry.~~
Iberia Parish Court Building
Psalm 71:5
For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.
~~Author's Note~~
I am one of these unique creatures called a Cajun...I
was told I am part French, part English, and part Cherokee
Indian. So I would say I am a Jambalaya (a mix). This poem is
a tribute to my upbringing...Cajun people have a colorful and
rich heritage...we were blessed to be born on the bayou... to
work hard, live hard, and love hard. We are steeped in tradition,
story telling, and are fun loving and hospitable...some people eat
to live...we live to eat. The Cajun Cuisine offers a variety of dishes
that are now available in many other parts of the world...but Cajun
spice started with us. I do enjoy being who I am. :)