When I moved away down to Billups creek
a tributary flowing into the Mississippi
and saw unmown wild fields of golden grass
tall trees everywhere
and  the dawn on a horizon
for the first time
saw country girls as
wild fillies,
oats and hay as fun
blue jeans
and got my first buzz with a knot
of 'bacco
I came along real quick
got the slang down tight in seventh grade
and my four-wheel drive pickup
at seventeen
got used to no rock stations
on the radio
just
adapted
to
ridin' country roads
and BBQ
and sassy lasses
and extended family's
and time spent
outside
and golden
fields of nature's
bounty

the sun is
brighter
down south
for a ****
Yankee