Dakota Hensley: The Button (poetry)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Like I said, I’m from a small town in Southern Kentucky. That small town is Harlan, in the Appalachian mountains. I’ve been here my entire life and my writing style is influenced by Delta Blues music. THE BUTTON...
Stephen Scott Whitaker: A Mini-Chapbook of Poetry
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Born raised, and breeding kids in Southeast Virginia, though I had to go to Buffalo to get hitched. Didn’t cross the M/D line till I was 19, and then for only a weekend. Unlike many, I know what’s...
Christopher Forrest: Bullet Holes and Grief (a poem)
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Vanceboro tobacco made it possible for me to internet you these poems. So cheers to generations that burned trash, gave scraps to dogs, sang Friday night gospel at Dudley’s Crossroads, and my unbreakable love for Dixie Queen....
Tom Sheehan: Two Poems
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I have read, visited in NC and worked in Tennessee. Ed. note: Mr. Sheehan is a frequent Mule contributor and one of our favorite writers. Please welcome him back to the Mule for the umpteenth time. TWO POEMS...
Clint Bowman: Poetry
Growing up in the rural outskirts of High Point in the Piedmont of North Carolina, Clint Bowman spent much of his time in the outdoors finding inspiration in the wilderness that surrounded his childhood home. A 2015 graduate of North...
Alexandra Melnick: Those Killed in Mississippi
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I was born in South Florida, against my better judgement. I then fled to Jackson, MS and am now settling in the Delta, where we may not have many chain banks but we have plenty of Waffle...
Adreyo Sen: Poetry
The following is my Southern Legitimacy Statement: I just loved “Gone With the Wind.” For the longest time, I wanted to be Melanie. Now, I am inching towards Scarlett. The Knowable On quiet streets Barely kissed by the sun, A...
Tim Mattamoe: Poetry
Southern Legitimacy Statement: I live in quiet retirement in Chatham County, the gem of the Carolina Central Piedmont. I once taught history in Beaufort County, the pearl of the Carolina Coastal Plain. I am American by birth, Southerner because I...
Kathryn Stripling Byer: Three Poems from 2007
Kathryn Stripling Byer has not forgotten her southern roots. True, she was North Carolina’s Poet Laureate in 2007. True, she has received accolades and praise. True, she is very, very busy. But when the Mule contacted her, asking for poems....
Patrick Metoyer: Poetry!
Southern Legitimacy Statement river town sleepy town cajuncreole spicy foods filé gumbo sultry air pop guns china berry trees joie de vivre laissez bon temps rouler Amen Bless, O Lord, this food we eat Fiber, carbs, even pickled beet Rack...
Charles Hassell : Poetry!
Southern Legitimacy Statement: Born in NC, raised in NC, livin’ in NC. Reckon I’ll die here. Daddy’s from down east, Momma’s from Georgia, and I live and die by slow cooked pork and greasy collard greens. Throw in some hush...
Ray Whitaker : Poetry!
SOUTHERN LEGITIMACY STATEMENT- Been living in North Carolina regular-like some forty years now, and was in-and-outta ‘here all my life before that. I have always thought of myself as a citizen of the world, however I notice that I say...
Alexander Payne Morgan : Poetry!
SOUTHERN LEGITIMACY: I was born in Savannah and lived all my life in Georgia until I graduated from the University of Georgia. My mother was born in Paducah, Kentucky, and her mother in a village in west Tennessee too small...