Dan Smith – Two Poems
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
I have been as far south as Red Oak, MO. ( okay, that's pretty much west )where I pissed off my wife and her friends by wanting to watch Leon Redbone ( hey, Red Oak/Redbone ) on TV instead of listening to them. We drove there in an old green Dodge Dart. We were stopped on the side of the road and we had to pick a big tick off my daughter's leg. The radiator overheated and they just replaced the radiator cap for like five bucks at a Shell station just off the interstate. Otherwise I went to Hamilton, OH. once in college to see Bo Diddley at Spaatz's Show Bar. He was from the South. Also went to Cincinnati, OH.to see Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto. She was from pretty far south and he was just from pretty far. Gary Burton was on vibes. He was 19 yrs. old. I am pretty far south of that.
I had a friend in high school who was from what was called the Southside of Cleveland, OH. I have lived through two economic periods that swept me pretty far south ( of course, this one isn't over yet ). A marriage went south ( see Leon Redbone incident above ). I've read a lot of James Lee Burke who wasn't born in the South but who, I think we can agree, writes about it better than most.
