Louisiana Longitudes And Latitudes
Hub City Diner—bread pudding
and chocolate malts after a plate
of red beans and rice: my friends,
a variety of Indians from their
mother’s land, first generation
or second. A moment in our
laughter—a full restaurant,
regulars and strangers; unsure
where we belonged: a moment
in that laughter, with ketchup
bottles and Tabasco in front
of us: scraped plates and forks
covered in syrup, licked spoons
—I wondered if the owner thought
ever if this little spot in the Oil
Center of the Cajun heartland
would host and comfort, provide
an identity for young Brown folk
from across the oceanic latitudes
—longitudes, forgetting a longing.
—Shome Dasgupta
Darrel’s Famous Poboys—the special,
it’s the jalapeño mayonnaise and gravy
that makes me look around the world
with an open mouth. The Surf & Turf,
too—butter sauce and a messy chin:
Lake Charles, Louisiana—70605,
swirling palates to understand the birth
of a sandwich and its New Orleans 19th-
century history beginning with fried oysters.
When the storm came, such a city beaten
and thrashed, metallic covers and splintered
woods—crumbled bricks and dented gas
stations: shattered and busted windows
and lives. I hoped our neighbors pulled
through as they always do, over and over,
to live with such obstinance is a must. A few
weeks later, my friend sent a photo—a perfect
picture of the menu from Darrel’s: still there,
and I relished the idea that the community
still has a home to gather and laugh and taste,
to forget. A future visit I anticipate:
it’s the jalapeño mayonnaise and gravy
that makes me look around the world
with an open mouth—a wandering tongue.
The Corner Table Of The World
SHOME DASGUPTA is the author of The Seagull And The Urn (HarperCollins India), and most recently, the novels The Muu-Antiques (Malarkey Books) and Tentacles Numbing (Thirty West), a prose collection, Histories Of Memories (Belle Point Press), a short story collection, Atchafalaya Darling, and a poetry collection, Iron Oxide (Assure Press). His writing has appeared in McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The Emerson Review, New Orleans Review, Jabberwock Review, American Book Review, Arkansas Review, Magma Poetry, and elsewhere. He lives in Lafayette, LA and can be found at www.shomedome.com and @laughingyeti.