More Country Girl Growing Up

White Lightening

From the house she stumbles---
Staggering in the yard,
Moonshine baby: spied daddy’s stash

Fear of the Night

Snoozing under the moonlight---
napping on the porch,
he sees,
silhouette hog bear standing before him.

Jumps to his feet---
shot gun in hand, heads for the door,
one shot in the night, howling in the air
no more scratching or beating down the backdoor
no more unusual footprints in the yard
or corn eaten from its stalk

Granddad Last Years

Grandma sits quietly on the steps
not a word did she speak; just stare at the road.
granddad drunk as usual
stumbles in the house
starts to argue with his drinking buddies
going for his pistol, he ask them to leave
but the voices did not cease
two shots out the window, where they stood talking
to the ground, they did not fall.

He curses them out saying, come on in, with your bad self.
My alarmed sister runs to mama
her husband and our cousin is whom he sees and hear---but not there.
Mama walks right in, takes the gun
and all is quiet again.

Scary Ride

Coming down the road
granddad makes it home
but in the ditch is where he parked.

Staggering to the house
we watch him stumble through the entrance
of his girl friend house next-door---
mama want to know, how he got the keys
to weak to say no, my sister cried
mama’s wrath made her strong again