Ballooning over NOLA: the Mississippi, sprawling mansions, Lake Ponchartrain, parades, street fairs, festive crowds, Superdome, sculptured gardens and grand architecture form the picture from aloft. Sounds of jazz float upward as I sail above. Difficult to see below is who sleeps unconscious on Jackson Square, who lies under frayed blankets on filthy city streets, who begs or threatens for a dollar’s worth of trouble, and whose lost child rocks forward and back on a broken corner with a sign that reads ‘hungry homeless please help’. A flood of social neglect rises and does not recede with this political tide.
Written in response to the March 8 flash fiction challenge from carrot ranch, 99 words including a balloon.
Barrier Island Blues 
The landmarks are different, but the view of the ‘invisible’ is similar in any city. Gut wrenching.
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A sad reflection on our society.
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Yes. We were just in NOLA and it is much worse than it was 2 years ago. The contrast is so awful between the party goers and the poor.
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I think it’s a common problem, worldwide. We need to take better care of our vulnerable.
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That is so true and so sad.
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I see it everywhere and it seems to be getting worse, again.
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Your flash shows what “social distance” has become, and it is sadly widespread. An interesting book (and a short read) is Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger.
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Thanks, Charli. I will read it.
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