70spoems/legacy

SOUTHERN LEGACY

Mr. John, when you died
and they parcelled up
your estate,
Clara got the store,
Alice got the house,
they all got Mississippi Delta
cotton land to grow
for years to come,
all Christian children
of Elizabeth and John.
What did you leave Ginny’s boy?

And when Dora billed you
for bedside care,
you threatened
to cut her out of the will.
My daddy said,
“John, don’t you do it.”
Who spoke up for Ginny’s boy?

They fought over the clock,
carried away the quilts,
the china and the Van Gogh print.
They tore down the barn,
sold the house,
changed the name
on the store.
And a fading memory
of red row shacks
was the legacy
for nigger Ginny’s
boy.

11/75