Southern Bred
In the backyard
of my father’s house
a hen’s warm neck
once filled the center
of my pale fist.
Her place on the stump
still wears my shadow
like a stain.
Charles Ghigna, “Southern Bred” from Speaking in Tongues. Copyright © 1994 by Charles Ghigna. Reprinted by permission of Charles Ghigna.
Source:
Speaking in Tongues
(Livingston University Press, 1994)
