Carolina Loves Tennessee



Pickled in sarcasm, our gallant foe
was somewhat somnolent in his word
and condemnation came too late for us
no, he couldn't curse us fast enough
and we fled on tarred-heels from the seaside.
We acquired a car under a fetching name
(my cat didn't mind my borrowing hers)
and, gloves in hand, I tossed the wheel
and turned it towards the blueness, skyward.
The sky was eggshell if you are a robin,
light and airy, none too bright, all chilly
a nice 55 and cloudy to hide Eos
she was dressing, you know, so early that day.

My pulse set the speed limit, quickly,
now, the mountains of Appalachia eating
at us, eroding our sleepy eyefuls of sun,
plucking at the hairs on my neck, those rocks.
(I sang the mountain song about hills and flora
and oomp-de-ah-dah.)
The chill air was fatal, but early yet
a nice shiver was all I could afford.
The sky would increase in ardor
and blush another cerulean any
eye-popping second now, and the scent
of the flowers on the roadside drove me
mad in Maytime, and as I was only
eight years old and a writer for two, I
can not remember how to hold onto that
a little longer.



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