Wednesday, August 7, 2013

so, i kind of finished a book (i am rural america)

i compiled a few pieces into a bit of a book this summer. oh, just so i could say i compiled a few pieces into a bit of a book this summer. here's the opening piece:

introduction (i am rural america)


my driveway is over a mile long
with a graveyard midway
the closest grocery store is a twenty-minute drive
leaving our mountain is called going to town
and our largest employer is the school system
i know the terms
chester drawers
sonker
yonder
and
sigogglin
i can prepare
fried chicken
biscuits
corn bread
sweet tea
and
pound cake
i measure rain in a gauge
because it matters
i preserve
green beans
potatoes
strawberries
squash
and
tomatoes
long conversations in parking lots are normal
everyone knows my parents
aren’t you one of the twins?
and even though i struggle to pronounce the word,
i
am
rural

america

how about you? if you wrote this piece, "i am...." what would it be?

linking with jennifer and emily

8 comments:

  1. Wooo-hhhooooo! Leaping and cheering and loving this.

    If I wrote a piece like this. Hmmmm.

    Right now it would say something like, "I am an almost 39 year old who really thought she would have figured out by now, but alas, doesn't." See, this is why I don't write poems. I ramble. I can't just say it.

    Seriously, who would read that? I will be coming back to read more.

    Good for you for announcing this to the world.

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  2. I totally LOVE this, Kendal! Cheering madly for you!!

    As for me ... I am a Nebraskan who never thought she'd say that, ever!

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  3. "i measure rain in a gauge
    because it matters"

    I get this, and really, all of it, with a few of the details changed for Iowa flavor.

    Now tell me more about that book!

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  4. I love this! And, as a fellow rural dweller, I can identify with much of it. Happy I found you from #TellHisStory.

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  5. Rural here too. I think one of the best images of rural American is a cool crisp Friday night in October under the lights of a small school football game. Standing with friends and cheering, eating hot dogs and watching little kids run around. Listening to the band play and the announcer stir excitement when they score.

    Great post, Kendall!

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  6. I'm loving this introduction. Seriously, Kendal, I would really love to read a book written by you.

    I am...transplanted Mountain Mama. Learning how to "go to town" for mail, market, and conversation. Learning how to wean myself from a lifetime of suburban living. Learning how to find myself in solitude, and seek peace in stillness.

    Learning...

    GOD BLESS!

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  7. This is great, Kendal! I hope you keep writing and compiling it:). You're a great writer.

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