RICE COTTON TOBACCO CANE
auction flea powder parched throat clabber trough
rattler den brightleaf shred broken hoe cheeky wench
tighter knot toad croak swollen calves chigger mite
slowdown trenchfoot “Dear Christ!” steer batteaux
chew snuff kick wasp nest high yield night riders
stooped nicotine poisoning loblolly pine bugle blast
hoist pick briars drain swamp ratoon sharp sickle
mean driver croon hymn chain convict dragonflies
boiling noon blood trickle calico head tie hogs loose
distillation coil sweat-soaked runaway mildewed stalk
double yoke shotgun flog 22 stripes rotgut
nail fungus scutch spoon cracklings bound bale
callused hands on block and tackle hernia nags hounds trail
flax britches burn bagasse flail machete hemp rope
caked cuff dirt pallet boll weevil corn mush
daybreak cock’s crow arise morning mist lifts
Charles H. Lynch lives in Brooklyn, New York; is a Cave Canem Fellow; and completed his doctoral dissertation on the lives and poetry of Robert Hayden and Gwendolyn Brooks. Poems have been published recently in The Indianapolis Review, POSTSCRIPT Magazine, The Avenue, Colossus: Current!, and The Ravens Perch.
Header photo of tobacco plants by jimaro morales, courtesy Pixabay.
