Southern Exposure

by David Galef

 

In Oxford, Mississippi,
When the catfish are in bloom,
And the bottle trees release their ghosts
That gibber in the gloom,
We settle on the front porch,
Splash some iced tea on the dogs,
And shoot to kill mosquitoes
As big as flying hogs,
Then watch the cotton blushing
As the oaks and kudzu kiss
While the frat boys ambush coeds
In the grove at dear Ole Miss,
And Faulkner waves from Rowan Oak
As if he weren't so dead
Till we finish all the bourbon
And stumble off to bed.

 

originally published in The Formalist

© 2005 David Galef

David Galef has published over seventy poems in magazine ranging from Shenandoah and Witness to The Laurel Review and Light, and his poetry collection, Flaws, is forthcoming from WordTech Press. David has published nine books, the latest of which is the short-story collection - Laugh Track. He's a professor of English and the administrator of the M.F.A. program in creative writing at the University of Mississippi.