Monday, October 11, 2010

The Old Mobilian Revealed


To answer the question of "Who is the Old Mobilian" once and for all:

 I am the story you forgot to ask your grandparents
I am how your folks  met
I am that kid you knew in grade school and wondered about from time to time
I am the rotten old wood on a once new clapboard house
I am wrought iron and cudzu
I am what that building used to be years ago
I am the kid who delivered your newspaper and the man who delivered your milk
I am the lady who gave your mother the banana pudding recipe
I am the white cotton sheets fresh from the clothesline
I am the  streetlight coming on in the evening beckoning you to get in the yard
I am one-two-three on my base
I am chiggers that made you itch and the claw-foot bath that soothed it
I am walking barefoot on blacktops and stickers
I am attic fans and screen doors
I am fat beads around an old ladies neck and a pocket book
I am the 'hey mister' on the float who threw you something good
I am the friend who got you that good deal on shrimp from a guy he knows
I am the white clover headband you made while studying the clouds above
I am the azaleas you gave to your mother
 I am the year of the good fat pecans that the squirrels didn't get to first
I am the hurricane wind before it goes from exciting to scarey
I am the snow that stuck to the ground that year
I am the imprint of the furnace grate on your sneakers
I am the one who sold you soft-serve ice cream on a 110 degree day
I am what the christmas tree in your window looks like from the street
I am the ladies gossiping on the front porch
I am the men who pulled quarters from your ears
I am the Time Lady and the Tunnel Guard
I am your neighbor and that crazy character you used to see on the street
I am the friend's house you hung out at as much as your own
I am who you were named after
I am the one who kept your secret
I am the one who told your parents
I am the screened porch and the kitchen curtains
I am the black mud from the bay bottom and the white sand from the Island
I am that song y'all made up on the bus
I am the cannon, the Loop, the Parkway and the banana docks
I am the GM&O Train that brought you home
I am the one so glad to see you again.

12 comments:

  1. You are gonna make me cry

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am the one who is "fleeing the interview."

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am the men who pulled quarters from your ears

    I just reread the above one - need to get the glasses tuned up - the first time I thought it said "garters" not quarters.

    ReplyDelete
  4. cried all the way through reading this wonderful, wonderful poem. bringing with a flood of beloved and never forgotten memories, which a longing spirit wishes she was there now! thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing! p. clarke from bayshore ave. in crichton, mobile, alabama. "FOREVER IN MY HEART, HEY, THROW ME SOME MARDI GRA BEADS,MISTER"

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful sentiments.

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