Marks of Distinction
Madisonville, Louisiana


On the north bank of Lake Pontchartrain
where the lake and the Techfunctie merge
a squat, lighthouse sits
ghostly
and forgotten.

Pelicans perch
on giant wood pilings,
a dock’s skeletal remains.

A tugboat lays pitched on its side
half hidden by brackish water,
abandoned to crabs and weeds.

1077 runs a mile from lighthouse to town
a pitted concrete single-car bridge
widens to a stiltsville of houses.

Waterfront restaurants survive
show off waterlines
fifteen feet high.

Madisonville, etched by Katrina.

~Linda Joyce