Poem
May ’25
Spanish moss in live oak, Knees poke the water under cypress, Honeysuckles in the fence row, Cotton like snow along the road. A gilded cage of manners, The air heavy with history, Every house a loaded gun And Bible. Church wine and bourbon, Pious white trash, A Southern belle, wild as sin. It’s Mama’s biscuits, It’s Daddy’s shine, Talladega at 200 mph, A hat at the Derby, A ghost at Ryman. It’s Johnny and June Going to Jackson, Loretta in Butcher Holler. It’s war in the streets of Athens, Tennessee, A Black Patch War, Bloody Breathitt, Atlanta burning. It’s Scarlett and Rhett, Boo and Scout, too.