arkansas

I became Melbourne's exchange student to Magnolia.
Arkansas in the USA.
Dad cried at the airport when I left Australia
I stayed with a Southern Baptist family
I had two host sisters and two host brothers.
They drove a staion wagon with imitation wood on the sides.
Governor Clinton of Arkansas was voted out that year.
The English teacher was the white Baptist pastor.
The Biology teacher was the black Baptist pastor.
On one side of the room sat white students.
On the other side of the room sat the black students
I sat in the middle.
I was neither one, nor the other.
The tress in Arkansas were acid green in the summer.
The woods grew where the cotton fields once were.
Everyone lived on tiny farms.
The families would play farmer, but hidden behind the
woods was a refinery called Ethyl.
This is where everyone secretly worked.
But nobody would tell the hogs or the turkeys
The boys would take an annual day off to shoot deer.
They would bring back the corpses to school to show
them off.
I like the deer more when they were alive.