Light trespassing in the country
By Elizabeth Stice
Rural places abound in unwatched gates, lightly locked, easily crossed.
Kudzu was introduced in Philadelphia in 1876 as an ornamental vine. It was promoted as nutritious cattle feed. It became “the vine that ate the South.”
The summer sunset is long and slow. The heat continues to radiate up from the ground. The sweat runs down the small of your back.
The wheels of progress, slowed by time.
Must be in green.
It is not quite Southern Gothic, but not quite anything else.
The insects hum loudly, sounds which transcend decades.
Is this the New South stopped in its tracks or the detritus of previous progress?
All you need is a Cheerwine and a philosophical outlook.
Red dirt clings to your shoes. Your sweaty hair clings to your forehead.
