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.