Day They Buried Nathan "Big Jim" Robinson 1976.

A Poem in Celebration of Juneteenth 2026.

Day They Buried Nathan “Big Jim” Robinson. 
Cut His Body Off: New Orleans Traditional Jazz Style, 
Lord.

All congregate outside his house.
Waiting for Big Jim’s people 
to come out too lead:

A double brass band,
				full-fledged,
							traditional,
jazz,											
         funeral,
																march,

Lord.

Meanwhile, a solo saxman mourns outside all alone.
Cryin’ alto notes for the man died 86 years old.
Never again will his legendary trombone play
into New Orleans' night air.

Outside congregation begins the rite.
A Strut: men, backs ramrod straight, tuxedo, suits, top hats, crisscross paths, cut mass.
A Dance: women, undulating, brilliant dresses, feathered boas, swirling every direction everywhere.
A Stroll: slow, dignified, meaningful walk within crowd Saint Phillips Street.

Tomorrow Lafitte will be as usual, carved up Morand-Tremé plantation
gutters littered with the years debris. Poor black, creole, white children 
will stare at little 
but a burning 
hell.

But today May 6, 1976, the street is full. 

With people:
				
       Strutting,
                                                                                         Dancin’,
                                                             Strolling,
 Singin’,
                                                                                        Shouting,

Under a sky of multi-colored parasols.

Day They Buried Nathan “Big Jim” Robinson. 
Cut His Body Off: New Orleans Traditional Jazz Style, 
Lord.