Delta Poetry Review, edited by Dixon Hearne, is an online poetry journal publishing exceptional work by new, emerging, and established writers. The review is most interested in poetry from and about the American delta region and the Deep South. All poems must reflect the theme in topic, place, culture, idiomatic expressions, regional dialect.
It is not often I am able to write in company about the American South; my birth-land. Being a Virginia, girl, I am surrounded by culture that sparks original, illustrated metaphor and inspires stories.
Why I love the American South and how it inspires me poetically
When I think of the South, it is nearly always possessive. I am mentally declaring my belonging to the land of my Southern experience. At the same time I feel the homing pull compelling Europe and exotic India.
The South is the exotic heart of America; the region where the most original culture developed and a way of life/mentality planted itself in company with the cultures of the world.
While there are many aspects of Southern history and culture I do not align with, I cannot ignore the rich landscape and diverse pool of emotions from which to pull when writing about the South. The history of the land offers many windows into the past through which to look. I am not afraid to look.
I think of the people who lived and dreamed and died, of the soil, fertile with lessons learned, and of the beautiful strength that arose and became part of Southern people still present today.
Volume 4 from Delta Poetry Review hums with poems that represent personal relationships with the South. You may recognize some of the elements that the world associates with the American South, but you are more likely to experience stories of family history, heritage, pride, and landscape in beautiful language and searching word.
I invite you to enjoy Subject and challenge your perception not only of the South, but also of the world’s myriad landscapes and cultures. The following is an except of my poem, Subject, published at Delta Poetry Review.
Beside the snaking muddy river
In the heart of the South
Women in black are born.
Derived of
Bleeding sunsets and suffering
To sew into their skirts . . . please continue reading here and do share your beautiful thoughts!