Poems by Eddie Draper
We all knew ole "Ditch" who lived behind the levee He fished them catfish beyond blind a legend of the line--- Rowboat oar he'd guide the pole where no man knew but he- On sandbar he'd be standin' tall Ole "Ditch," dem worms and me--- Mister Eddie - pull yo' line you sho' nuff reeled your best As I waken from my dream Ole "Ditch" He's fishin' yet--- |
I'm just a lonesome Delta field left fallow to the plow My owner can't afford my plight a hundred years am I--- Chopper's chopping - turn my weeds Once cotton - once was beans- Magnolia State forsake me not I still seek profit in my dreams--- Who can afford an acre's dirt? No future for this earth- Grown men cry - a loss unheard A lonesome Delta field to curse--- |
Peckerwood-I heed you calling me- the cotton gin- Edna Ma your hallowed walls Memory never fainting me Big Daddy nor the fields--- Oh faith be mine- Old recalls serve me well- On Burchfield's Place Across the dell Back forty and the mules- The well-the shop-the old homestead The blacks upon the porch- A friend of mine was Cooterville And Bessy - Doris too- And Buddy Coon Who walked the ditch A wiser drunk unseen- And Eddie-Charlie and Robert Ed Our muscles flexed to toil- Now turn our backs upon the soil- Peckerwood deadning live on Live on--- Those tractor days Tho' over now At least amongst our youth- We carry on and hold the grasp Yet still we dream the past--- |
The Clevelands and the Boyleians the Merigoldians and the Drewians--- Galactic war - the fiercest clan the target's emblem's spar The Tallahatchies glide thru space unseen on Rulevena--- And Linn and all the Malvina court stand judged at Rosedale port--- And Waxhaw transports Captain Shaw toward Glendora past the Anguilla sky--- Oh Perthshire what do you desire on Beulah's landing break? A truce at Lillo's cross the table manna at sunburst If the Lelandites agree--- |
Can't you hear the backyards 'cross the neighborhood- Dogs in bark - fences bound cats prowl among the woods--- Midnight anguish waiting still Silence breaks its vow- Stairway to a backyard grill The scent still guides me now--- New mown grass on summer's eve Helps me remember youth- a squeaky seat on swaying swing I sip quietly on a backyard view--- |
My angel must have just one wing She does not visit oft'- But when she soars around my realms my spirits break on loft--- My angel must have just one wing my luck no constant streak--- But what beauty - 'neath that wing Protector's guiding meek--- My angel must have just one wing Oh fly my way and light- And curl yon web and drape my soul I need your wing tonight--- |
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He now lives and works in Nashville, Tennessee, where he is a songwriter and musician. Write Eddie at Gravel Road Music.  ___________________________ Miss Spongy Oasis The Shadow Of Your Breath My First Graders First Picture Upon One Delta Night Out On A Limb Katies Kitchen Floor Old Ditch Lonesome Delta Field Peckerwood Deadning Delta Force Backyards My Angel Must Have Just One Wing Firefly Peace On The Road Trees Are Made Of Doors Oh Distant Star Upon The Candled Night The Worldly Light Its Only Life Mississippi River ~ Queen Of My Life Thats All Thats Left To Do Horizons Of My Heart Pianos Have Their Form Of Soul Please visit our Message Board or write Ye Editor at bethjacks@hotmail.com. Thanks! Back to USADEEPSOUTH index page |