A sultry Mississippi night
can swelter almost hot as day
as chiggers and mosquitoes bite
midst oleanders' sweet bouquet.
Did oleander blossoms bloom,
a floral wreath for young boy's tomb
when Tallahatchie, hushed and still,
became the grave of Emmett Till?
|
| Writing Prompt |
Write a poem sharing an emotional feeling about something such as: life, death, war, injustice, marriage,loneliness, loss, hope, laughter, or a subject that might not be listed. Express an emotion such as fear, anxiety, love, hate, disgust, indifference, etc. |
 |
Feelings
Contest Winner
|
|
|
Author Notes
In August of 1955, a fourteen year old African American boy named Emmett Till visited relatives in Mississippi. While visiting a store with friends, he whistled at or in some way flirted with a 21 year old married white woman - whether it was a whistle, or whether, as she claimed, he touched her while asking for a date, that is the worst anyone ever claimed he did. When her husband found out about the incident, he and at least one other man took Emmett out of the house where he was staying, beat him brutally, gouged out his eye, shot him in the head, then tied his body to a fan from a cotton gin with barbed wire and dumped him in the Tallahatchee River. The killer, found not guilty, later bragged of his crime in an interview.
The oleander plant is beautiful but highly poisonous.
|
|
