Poem of the Month, Picture My South

Daybreak In Alabama

Langston Hughes

When I get to be a composer
I'm gonna write me some music about
Daybreak in Alabama
And I'm gonna put the purtiest songs in it
Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist
And falling out of heaven like soft dew.
I'm gonna put some tall tall trees in it
And the scent of pine needles
And the smell of red clay after rain
And long red necks
And poppy colored faces
And big brown arms
And the field daisy eyes
Of black and white black white black people
And I'm gonna put white hands
And black hands and brown and yellow hands
And red clay earth hands in it
Touching everybody with kind fingers
And touching each other natural as dew
In that dawn of music when I
Get to be a composer
And write about daybreak
In Alabama.

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This poem might have been one of those that was a given for me to use. One, Langston Hughes is such a favorite of mine and two, I've been in Alabama all summer.

It's a beautiful poem, is it not? One that closely captures the essence of all that is good, and can be good, in Bama.

I've had lots of time to ponder Alabama's daybreaks/mornings, for my youngest son gets up between 6 and 7 every morning--before any else is a wake--and we spend lots of time outside on the front porch watching the Bama wake up. Also, all my outdoor runs I do in the morning. It is the best part of the day in Bama.

.......................

Picture my South full of old homes, lightening bugs, iron giants, cities of green, and ancient trees.

My parents' home, built in 1873

Probably the oldest standing structure in their town

Magnolias

Every evening spent with lightening bugs

The Vulcan, the world's largest cast iron statue, which stands over B'ham

B'ham

An old dogwood. 15 years ago I carved my initials in it.

Wallace the big oak, that says hi to me on my runs.

(Do you see her eyes, nose, and mouth?)

Goodbye Bama, it was a great summer! See ya in 6 months to a year!