“Life Story” by Lauren “Elyse” Phillips (58 word micro-fiction) 2007
As for Southern Legitimacy: I couldn't possibly be more Southern. Paw-Paw is a cotton farmer, Aunt Jean's favorite phrase is "for cryin' in the cow butter!", and the little old ladies in the grocery store used to run up and touch my head so they wouldn't give me "ojo." If the preacher's sermon went long, he'd apologize for holding up dinner. "Kudzu," "The Lockhorns," and "Tumbleweeds" were all staples in the morning paper where I grew up, though I've never seen mention of any of them elsewhere until now. I left home, but it's shaped me, and most of what I write is about the love/hate relationship I have with my Southern past.
Michael Parker “message in a bottle”
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
Raised and fed by a Southern lady from Chattanooga, who taught me good eating and good manners.
When I die and go to heaven, I’m praying the heavenly banquet will include:
Fried Livermush
Pintos (with pork in them)
Green beans (with pork in them)
Collards (with pork in them)
Corn bread (with pork cracklins in it)
If there is no livermush or pigs in heaven, then–if I have my ‘druthers–I reckon I’ll have to stay right here in North Carolina.
Deb Jellett “Daddy Elvis”
southern legitimacy statement: I was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, but never learned to be a cute or sweet purdy girl, so I moved to England where surliness is appreciated.
An Interview with Dayne Sherman
by Thomas Scott McKenzie *from Summer 2007 Dayne Sherman is writer both dedicated and determined. A former high-school dropout, he began writing fiction in the spring of 1996. In a little more than three years, he has racked up 13...
Michael Evan Parker : if it rains
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
Raised and fed by a Southern lady from Chattanooga, who taught me good eating and good manners.
When I die and go to heaven, I’m praying the heavenly banquet will include:
Fried Livermush
Pintos (with pork in them)
Green beans (with pork in them)
Collards (with pork in them)
Corn bread (with pork cracklins in it)
If there is no livermush or pigs in heaven, then–if I have my ‘druthers–I reckon I’ll have to stay right here in North Carolina.
**
Gary Carter: Four Poems
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
Growing up in the North Carolina, where you’re Tar Heel born and Tar Heel bred and when you die you’re Tar Heel dead, I believe—no, am downright certain—that ghosts and monsters surround us, seen and unseen—and sometimes the living ones are more frightening than the ones lingering in the darkness, as in any down-South member of the Republican Party. But still I keep circling back like some broke-nose Faulkner character and lingering, this last time around to Asheville, where I was purportedly conceived, and which seems to be a slightly crazed place where pushing words around until they make sense seems to make sense—for now. And where you can just escape up into the mountains and find some peace.
**
Michael Evan Parker: “Old Woman Sweeping”
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
Raised and fed by a Southern lady from Chattanooga, who taught me good eating and good manners.
When I die and go to heaven, I'm praying the heavenly banquet will include:
Fried Livermush
Pintos (with pork in them)
Green beans (with pork in them)
Collards (with pork in them)
Corn bread (with pork cracklins in it)
If there is no livermush or pigs in heaven, then--if I have my 'druthers--I reckon I'll have to stay right here in North Carolina.
Fat Tuesday by Gary Powell
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Gary V. Powell is a North Carolina writer with his back against New Orleans.
Jack Niven, The Artist of the Hour
We’d like to thank Jack for his contributions to this Mule. It’s pretty safe to say that without him, our issue would be brutish and gray. Jack is a rare artist, as far as we’re concerned. Anyone who can paint...
Gail Peck: Four Poems
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
I am a proud Virginian, the Dogwood state. If I was going to get switched, it wasn’t going to be from a branch of the dogwood. And I did get switched on occasion because my grandmother believed, “Spare the rod, and spoil the child.” She had to make up for Poppie’s lack of discipline. He’d let me play Barbershop and lather his head with Old Spice, and taught me Solitaire which he played by pulling his chair to the bedside, the cards laid across the peacock bedspread. He scooped out oysters from the stew so I could savor the liquid. We ate jelly-roll cake together. When Granny’s day ended, we sat on the porch swinging, the morning glories closed by now. She played the harmonica and, Tango, the dog howled. That old house still stands, and beside it the apple tree I climbed.
Dale Wisely: “The Woods Unbounded”
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
I have eaten fried squirrel, instructed by my parents to be careful to avoid the lead shot.
I can detect a phony Southern accent on TV or in movies in three-quarters of a second. Shockingly, almost no non-Southern actor can master one. Not even DeNiro or Streep.
Helen Peterson – “Agape” – A Poem
Southern Legitimacy Statement:
As I've said in the past, my Southern Legacy stems from my father's side, born in Florala, Alabama.
Cecile Dixon – The Key
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I am a college educated, teen mother. I am a God fearing, gun-toting woman. I am a sixties liberal who has learned to survive and thrive in the new millennium. I am old in body and young in spirit. I am laughter and sorrow. I am a contradiction. I am a daughter, mother, wife, lover and friend of the south. I am a southern woman.
Poetry
Essays
