ONE MISSISSIPPI, TWO MISSISSIPPIS

after Thomas Sayers Ellis

You got old plantations

We got shotgun houses

You got sprawling verandas

We got a piece a front porch

You got beautiful gardens

We got cotton fields

You got Ole Miss Law School

We got Parchman Prison

You got Gulf Shore beaches

We got river banks

You got debutante balls

We got juke joints

You got bridge parties

We got dominoes and spades

You got mint juleps

We got homemade hooch

You got your grandmother’s china

We got paper plates

You see a proud history

We see a racist past

You don’t remember lynchings

We can’t forget

You got blacks

We got the blues