Southern Tribes Of Youth Poem by Eric Cockrell

southern tribes of youth...
high and tight fastball,
louisville slugger cocked,
bases loaded, two outs!
freckled faced girdle wrapped
momma sworn girls laughing...
old chevy trucks, three on the tree,
careful not to jam the gears.
rock n'roll blaring, pedal to the floor,
Richard Farina rebellion,
'beware the monkey demon'!

and Vietnam lied and vomited
on the tv screens...
gunshots, dead Kennedy's,
and Martin Luther King defiled
by angry riots...
marching for peace,
cuffed and stuffed in a van...
staring through the bars,
'run, rabbit, run! '

ah, but watermelon creek,
flag football and fist fights.
pine sap running,
she let me touch...

heroes died, the textbooks lied.
the old mills ran like prisons
that paid on Thursday afternoons.
six packs of beer, roll your own,
skinny dipping nights,
and moonlight rides.

southern baptist 'i do's',
and babies grew babies...
the old glove dressed in oil,
on the silent basement shelf.
the high and tight fastball,
should have been a curve!