to old, red, cotton-bred soil
from whence I sprung
not in a box of bones
just my transit
carved in stone
sown among others
father, mother, siblings
aunts Carrie, Helen
with grandfather Lee
his Miss Bonnie
neither known to me
greats Sam and Eliza
their parents, grands too
Meares, Nash, Terry
ancestor census
seven generations back
to Mary McD. Sherriden
all southern-born
except for Yorkshire Tom
and Dublin’s McDowells
gathered together
as layers of time
in single churchyard of stones
yankee transplant I
last reunion with this tribe
of Carolina kin.
No comments:
Post a Comment