southern accent

pardon me
ladies and gentlemen
the erudite
the elite
the educated
the eviscerated
you toiling
city folk
it’s sunday morning
and
where i come from
this day is about
forgiveness and redemption
swurda gawd
but i’m making no apology
this is a sweet
southern explanation
today i am more my father’s girl
my mother’s backslid far away pride
see
we
kentuckians
are
a different breed
we take things slower
we accept a lot more
we are unimpressed
regardless of our vices
there is bourbon in our veins
and tobacco growing next
to radishes in the garden
we aren’t too good to break bread
with you
or too dignified to teach your concrete buildings
to break beans
our cobblers are worth dying for
and so are our women
but the coal dust
will kill you first
our royalty drink mint julep
but still know where grandaddy’s
moonshine still mashed the corn
take my silky hand
and walk down thunder road
to the barn and
watch me brush this
tennessee walker
saddle him
and ride across the creek
to wash off the industrial age
and the no longer existent average wage
i’m riding off
into an
unpolluted sunset
you can keep your uppity stress
and accept that i’ve taken
a shine to the word uppity
because in the end
we’re all buried
in the same
damned
earth