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Innocence
Brightness before the city teaches price.
Innocence in New Orleans is observed, not owned. It appears on porches, in parade sideline faces, before the body learns what the brass costs.
Pure is a word adults misuse. Accurate is unguarded — brief, expensive, already fading by adolescence.
The city does not promise fairness. It promises rhythm. Innocence learns the downbeat early.
The downbeat still plays after the child looks away.
JV · Dark Heart Labs