Ode to Mississippi

You have no homework to do

You have no one to listen to you speak

And so write in this safe space

Tell the stories you long to leak.

MISSISSIPPI

Crooked letters and humpbacked whales

Dancing before my eyes

I didn’t know anything but that

I didn’t like Oklahoma or Alabama.

And so I came to a place

Where they write their letters crooked

And I took it upon myself to straighten them out

Letters and essays and blog posts and texts.

I found typos and flaws

And terrific friends

Who reminded me that Millillilli isn’t a word

So I won’t straighten Mississippi out.

~Madeline