Cabin Up Yonder Poem by Laurence Overmire

Elma Lou was a big woman
Carried her shotgun like a
Matchstick
Tucked inside the stubby flesh of her
Thumb and forefinger
Her hair flowing down her
Ample breasts like
Rivers of moonshine on a
Terrified night.

Slim Pete chanced by
One sultry August eve
Intending to
Sell Bibles, but
Persuaded instead to
Buy a wedding ring.

No one knows how this unlikely union
Came to pass, but
Six kids later
He's still got a smile on his face
Bigger than a brash
Kentucky morn.

~ Laurence Overmire

(Previously published in Main Channel Voices, Spring 2007)