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Monday, October 27, 2008

Where I'm From

I am from patchwork quilts,
from Lava soap and lavender.
I am from the red plank house,
clay dirt baking in the sun.
I am from the jonquils,
the queen pippin,
fried apple pies.
I'm from storytelling,
from Granddaddy Bob and Uncle Bill.
I'm from farmers
plowing cornfields with mules,
hard-working, Appalachian folks.

I'm from a chapel in the woods,
shape-note music,
a circut-riding Methodist preacher,
the King James Bible.

I'm from Hyatt Mill Creek,
cornbread and buttermilk.
From Great-Granddaddy Dallas Matheson
planting a peach orchard
on Shewbird Mountain.

In my closet is a shoebox
spilling old pictures,
Scots-Irish ancestors,
my Cherokee Indian grandmother.
I am from the Blue Ridge Mountains
of western North Carolina,
scraps of history pieced
into a Lone Star quilt.
--Brenda Kay Ledford
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousTuesday, October 28, 2008 at 9:04:00 AM EDT

    Loved this Brenda! We are from the some of the very same things.

    ReplyDelete
  2. off-lineTuesday, October 28, 2008 at 3:47:00 PM EDT

    I am delighted to see this wonderful poem, Brenda. It stirred warm memories and left me smiling.
    Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glenda Council BeallFriday, October 31, 2008 at 12:38:00 AM EDT

    Brenda, your poems always take me to a place I enjoy visiting and this one takes me right here in Clay County, a lovely peaceful place.

    ReplyDelete

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