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Dixie Transplant
The South makes up its own words,
has a code of behavior fresh as new fruit smooth
as condensation gathering on the sides of a julep glass
and just as beautifully incomprehensible.
An example?
The definition of y'all: a relaxed contraction
that tightens for company to you all,
gets broken out with the china
and your mama's Chantilly silver.
And heavens to goodness, the word is pecan,
not pee-can or peckin. The first syllable:
puh, should be spit out into the palm of your hand
like a cherry pit, and -cahn rolled out long on the tongue.
Yes, but -
Don't interrupt when your elders are speaking
(either on the porch or at the table). At funerals
a child can always be distracted by a singing cricket
and found, sticky and satisfied, in an illicit blackberry patch.
Some music is best punctuated by fiddle and bootheels,
and chicken best served cold with tea and peaches.
The committee hides the best eggs in the bushes
at Easter. And church hats? The bigger, the better.
Caitlyn Childress Bergeron
A graduate of George Mason University's M.F.A. program, my work has appeared in a
variety of journals, including Red Booth Review, Red Rock Review and the
Yalobusha Review.
