Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith

  In Blood Dazzler Patricia Smith describes New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina through poetry. In the prologue, she describes the city itself. She personifies New Orleans as a prostitute, a woman normal, upstanding people are strangely attracted to. She describes New Orleans as seducing the average person. I think she does this so the reader will get a sense of the relationship of New Orleans to the rest of America. New Orleans is known as "The Big Easy". It's a place people flock to in order to enjoy its pleasures and escape their lives. Another reason the author establishes this relationship early on is so the reader will be fully aware of the difference in America's attitude toward New Orleans before Katrina and after.
    Another element Patricia Smith weaves into the story of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina is the contrast between the poor's experience during Katrina and the affluent’s experience. This contrast is most evident in the poem in Only Everything I Own and Inconvenient. In Only Everything I Own Smith describes someone who lives modestly. Their one room house was their grandfathers. They eat food from their own garden. Their house is the most important and most expensive thing they own. This person has no choice but to stay in New Orleans because they have nowhere else to go. At the end of the poem it says, "That blistered sky has learned my days and hates me for everything I have." This person has had to work for everything they have. They have had a hard life. In contrast, in Inconvenient Smith describes an affluent family. The first line of the poem says, "Go. What, again? What nuisance, this back and forth." It goes on to say, "Best to consider this whole mess a holiday, a simple trade one home for its vacation version." The affluent family views Katrina as a mere nuisance, an inconvenience. They have the money and resources necessary to escape. In fact, they consider Katrina a chance to vacation. They are not worried about losing everything they have or preserving their life. The biggest thing they have to worry about is missed garden parties. The affluent family is even bored. This provides a stark contrast to the poor who are concerned with losing everything they have.