~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Jianqing Zheng

Delta Blues

          after William Ferris’s photograph “One-String Guitar” by Louis Dotson

The farmhand sits on the porch

feeling the wind whistle past the fields:

dancing corn dancing corn

dancing corn in wind

The farmhand sits on the porch

hearing the lightning across the sky:

bending rice bending rice

bending rice in lightning

The farmhand sits on the porch

seeing the sunshine over the horizon:

blooming cotton blooming cotton

blooming cotton in sunshine

The farmhand sits on the porch

waiting for the evening to befall him:

flat life flat life

flat life of the flatland

The farmhand sits on the porch

playing a self-made diddley bow:

whining blues whining blues

whining blues through the night 

Being in the Moment

          after Leo Touchet’s photograph “New Orleans #1599”

Two lovers form a silhouette

in the halo

of the southern sunset—

heads tilting, eyes smiling,

arms hugging

for a soulful presence.

She’s the crescent moon

throbbing

with his heartbeat,

and he Lake Pontchartrain

rocking her

into a mooring boat.