{"id":3157,"date":"2024-09-24T17:42:55","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T21:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/2026June\/?page_id=3157"},"modified":"2024-09-24T17:42:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T21:42:55","slug":"issue-17-poetry-george","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/2627\/issue-17-poetry-george\/","title":{"rendered":"Come Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Beverly George<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u201cCome back South,\u201d my mother said on the phone,
\u201cTo your people.\u201d
They are my people.
Like rivers moving through continents
They are my heritage,
My inheritance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She tugged on the line
They are my very own, as seed
Belongs in rich black soil,
To them
I belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because I was born in the North,
Didn\u2019t taste grits or chitlins until halfway grown,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
Sheltered in suburbs before launching in life
To Ivy Leagues, raised three children
And got two master\u2019s degrees<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But no farther up the crystal stair did I dare,
Stymied by life\u2019s maze of ideals while
Slapped with the sight
Of strange fruit hanging from innocent trees
Burdened by timeless tears unretrieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claimed by neither region when Mother invited me home
I\u2019d been so long singing in my place in the North
Thoughts shrouded in sequestered dreams
But the South drew me like a magnet
To unexplored ancestry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proper English found Gullah Geechee dialect
Black-eyed peas and rice, St. Louis Blues and New Orleans
Jazz danced with uncles and aunts
Sharing centuries\u2019
Suffering in a glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I miss MoMA and Central Park
But ushered in from hushed snows
Circlinginthedark
To the South where my people
Endured the harsh past
And embraced my heart
When I came home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Beverly George is an aspiring poet who retired in 2020 after teaching music for 22 years in Sumter, S.C. Her poems can be found in the\u00a0SC Bards Anthology issues 2023 and 2024 and she was mentioned in the\u00a0Poetry.com<\/a>\u00a0July 2023 contest as runner up. \u00a0Her chapbook,\u00a0First Light<\/em>\u00a0was published in 2022 and her new book is forthcoming in 2025. \u00a0Her family lives in MN and NY.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Beverly George \u201cCome back South,\u201d my mother said on the phone,\u201cTo your people.\u201dThey are my people.Like rivers moving through continentsThey are my heritage,My inheritance. She tugged on the lineThey are my very own, as seedBelongs in rich black soil,To themI belong. Because I was born in the North,Didn\u2019t taste grits or chitlins until halfway grown,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sheltered in suburbs before launching in lifeTo Ivy Leagues, raised three childrenAnd got two master\u2019s degrees But no farther up the crystal stair did I dare,Stymied by life\u2019s maze of ideals whileSlapped with the sightOf strange fruit hanging from innocent treesBurdened by timeless tears unretrieved. Claimed by neither region when Mother invited me homeI\u2019d been so long singing in my place in the NorthThoughts shrouded in sequestered dreamsBut the South drew me like a magnetTo unexplored ancestry. Proper English found Gullah Geechee dialectBlack-eyed peas and rice, St. Louis Blues and New OrleansJazz danced with uncles and auntsSharing centuries\u2019Suffering in a glance. Sometimes I miss MoMA and Central ParkBut ushered in from hushed snowsCirclinginthedarkTo the South where my peopleEndured the harsh pastAnd embraced my heartWhen I came home. Beverly George is an aspiring poet who retired in 2020 after teaching music for 22 years in Sumter, S.C. Her poems can be found in the\u00a0SC Bards Anthology issues 2023 and 2024 and she was mentioned in the\u00a0Poetry.com\u00a0July 2023 contest as runner up. \u00a0Her chapbook,\u00a0First Light\u00a0was published in 2022 and her new book is forthcoming in 2025. \u00a0Her family lives in MN and NY.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3157","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t