ode to the south

re-posting from the past written: 19 Jul 08 Saturday 22:46


ode to the south:

there is
just enough
of florida left
in me
for the love of all things fried
to remain deep inside my heart
- to salivate for grits with pools of butter
and okra fried
to moisten at the mouth
for white gravy
bridging
mashed potatoes
buttermilk biscuits
corn
and
chicken fried steak

there is just enough of southern east coast life
to wake dreaming
of
"hey y'alls"
and
howling long with
lynryd skynyrd
and don mclean

west palm's so deep seeded
that when i say i miss childhood
in there are the memories of
smashing coconuts open in the driveway
collected off the ground
beside the palm fronds
with my brother

we loved the dukes of hazard
cuz we liked to whistle
dixie
and tie our tee's like daisy duke
whilst hanging out with our good ol' boys

hush puppies were a standard staple
i love you minneapolis
but your hush puppies are wanting
as is your cornbread

there's 18 years of southern tropic living
where i can still miss
things like
blackened catfish fried just freshly pulled from lakes
and
driving long the bee-line and swampy canals
sugar cane fields standing stalk tall
orange groves for endless miles
conch fritters
and fresh atlantic crab legs the most kinda common
and dolphin served at potlucks and kids in squeamish fear of eating flipper till parents explained the two kinds of dolphin to them

and even though i was so glad to leave as soon as highschool ended
and have rarely if ever looked back

theres still enough of florida in me
to miss sailfish
boats pulling up to restaurants
sawgrass
the boonies
hibiscus and grapefruit trees
starfruit
kumquats
ponderosa lemons
avocados the size of softballs
and
catching scuttling sea crabs in paper cups

theres enough of the south in me
korean born
south florida raised
european lived
midwest middle age
to still wake

craving


- kim thompson posted friday 23.52 seoul, s. korea