One Egg Breakfast

I was born in Elloree
The names of southern towns roll and ring
Like beads of sweat on the brow
Traveling thunder on humid nights
Sounds of bells in the slow afternoon.
(Insert cliche about the sounds of cicadas.)

'Tis a gift to be simple
But not too simple
To speak like you do is
Ignorant. Rural. Wrong.
'Tis a gift to be free
But not too free
Your legs itch
Under your best church stockings.

A liberal arts education
Reaffirms my father's wisdom
Life isn't fair.
It gives me the answer to
Why?


Wealth is concentrated in families
But it sure aint in mine.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of Earth
Jesus didn't hold by Wall Street nepotism
I don't remember, but maybe it was
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John D. Rockefeller.