by Hannah Jones
tobacco fields stink
worse than collards
greenish brown
windows down
muggy breeze
fingers reaching out to touch
nearly touch
the cotton balls
as they fluff by
because if you touch
perhaps you will know
what your foremothers knew
ages ago
down in the Cackalacky
the dirt road
stationwagon
rickety, creaks
with the grease of fried chicken
in spotted napkins
and thighs, sweaty
sticking to hot leather
two angry sisters in the backseat
lips smarting from the pinch
of reprove
and stewing from the heat
cold tomato slices
say Goodbye
and every 200 miles
you might stop
at a tiny gas station
where there’s a single attendant
and your father
vanishes
and emerges
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