Although I blog under the nickname "Texican", my birthplace is Mississippi. I have lived in Texas longer than I lived in Mississippi, but I still have my heart in my birth State. The picture above is my dad's family. If you look at the back row from left to right, my dad is the young man with his head between two of his aunts. If you knew me as a teenager, then you probably had no trouble finding him. In my story, "The Coon Hunt", I pictured the old home place. This was taken across the gravel road from that house. I wrote an acrostic poem using the word Mississippi, and an artist, Rhonda McCauley, did a beautiful water color to illustrate it.
MISSISSIPPI
Mighty river, wide, winding,
Indians found you long ago.
Southward moving,
Sultry, steamy,
Into lives, into dreams.
Smell of honeysuckle blooming,
Soft pine breezes, southern drawls.
Ivy, Kudzu, trees entwining,
Pastoral vistas,
Pleasant people,
I will ever hear your call.
