Friday from the Archives: “Somehow Kin, North Carolina 1957” a poem by Nora Shepard with photography by R.H. Sturges in NCLR 2006
One last poem for Poetry Month (a day late) and a nod to our 2027 feature on the Southern Gothic within North Carolina Literature, which is still open for submissions through August.
Nora Shepard studied with Betty Adcock and John Balaban, among others, and taught at NCState University. This piece is one of four she wrote in our 2006 issue.
Arlena Faye Weaver: Buncombe County
There ain’t no money to bury Eddy.
He’s on the slab. Nobody fetched him,
but I done the identifying.
Sheet pulled back – one look told all
that’s needed. They won’t give him up
’til we get the check. Can’t buy the casket
nor them roses his mama wants.
One thousand dollars
to burn him – put him in a cardboard box
carry him on home. I can’t put him in the trunk.
You hold him up front with you.
Put Eddy’s ashes in the attic, didn’t tell
Junior ’cause he wouldn’t sleep
in the room under. Took Eddy’s box
to the UPS. They stuck it all over, stamps
and labels, trucked him to Tennessee.
They gonna lay him down in the corner
next to his daddy.
We’ll never see that place.
Read the rest on Gale Cengage and add the 2006 issue to your collection today!
