Laisses les bons temps rouler.



As Russian tanks rolled towards Kiev,
my 5 year old and her classmates
celebrated Mardi Gras with
king cake and colorful beads.
Laisses les bons temps rouler.

During our walk home,
she tells me today was the
best day ever, and part of me
delights in her innocence during
this time of revelry and resistance.

My own students are distracted
and disturbed by the war in Europe.
Will they be drafted? Will Putin nuke us?
In class, I admitted that I had no idea;
I’m a writer, not a political science expert.

My daughter tells me that trio of beads—
gold, green, and purple—
represent something.
Purple stands for justice,
gold means power, and green is faith.

About this poem

Reflections on the times in which we live (the war in Europe during Mardi Gras)

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Written on March 30, 2022

Submitted by iahlgren on March 30, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

40 sec read
2

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXXAX XBXCX XXDBX AXCDX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 674
Words 136
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5

Ingrid Ahlgren

Ingrid Ahlgren teaches English and Communications at Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey. In the past, she's worked as a writer for Vault.com, a writer/editor for education travel company Arrangements Abroad, and as a researcher/writer for National Geographic Traveler magazine. Ingrid has an MA in journalism from the University of Missouri and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Virginia. more…

All Ingrid Ahlgren poems | Ingrid Ahlgren Books

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    "Laisses les bons temps rouler." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/124195/laisses-les-bons-temps-rouler.>.

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