Bayou
By: Rania Z
Age: 16
Houston, Texas
By: Rania Z
Age: 16
Houston, Texas
Way past the bayou,
Before the evening chill,
There lies a crop of cicadas,
screaming for sam hill.
Way past the bayou,
The neverending heat,
It sits in your bones,
Seeps into the meat.
Way past the bayou,
On the outskirts of plantations,
The dirt is still red,
From that soil grows carnations.
Way past the bayou,
If you listen very closely,
You can hear the scuffle of boots,
And cattle skulls as trophies.
Way past the bayou,
In the waters tinted green,
lies something at the bottom of the lake,
It waits to be seen.
Sometimes, in the bayou,
An outsider comes to town,
Straight laced church shoes,
Not a speck of dirt to be found.
They’ll be there for a while,
Many they will see,
But soon they find themselves rotting,
In the great bayou of birch tree.
Before the evening chill,
There lies a crop of cicadas,
screaming for sam hill.
Way past the bayou,
The neverending heat,
It sits in your bones,
Seeps into the meat.
Way past the bayou,
On the outskirts of plantations,
The dirt is still red,
From that soil grows carnations.
Way past the bayou,
If you listen very closely,
You can hear the scuffle of boots,
And cattle skulls as trophies.
Way past the bayou,
In the waters tinted green,
lies something at the bottom of the lake,
It waits to be seen.
Sometimes, in the bayou,
An outsider comes to town,
Straight laced church shoes,
Not a speck of dirt to be found.
They’ll be there for a while,
Many they will see,
But soon they find themselves rotting,
In the great bayou of birch tree.
A note from Rania: My poem is inspired by HP Lovecraft, who's works I have been reading a lot recently. I decided to take his form of horror writing and Southern gothic and tie them together into a poem.
What inspired you to write about the bayou ecosystem?
Rania: I really wanted to focus on specific plants that are native to the south or at least very popular here. One of which is Spanish moss. I absolutely LOVE Spanish moss. Not only is Spanish moss beautiful and gives a really amazing ambiance, but it is also non-parasitic and often blamed for hurting the trees in which they reside-but they really don't! That is the reason why I personally love them and also why the moss is so important to the ecosystem! I also wanted to point out the importance of swamp and bayou ecosystems, which unfortunately are being rapidly developing into housing and other infrastructure projects, which greatly lessens the biodiversity of the habitats. It's pretty saddening to see how the community not only in Texas but also Louisiana has changed so much. So I think that's a really important part of conservation as well.
Do you reference the Spanish moss anywhere in the poem?
Rania: In terms of references to Spanish moss there's only one time I explicitly reference it, "body at the bottom of the lake '' being the whole bayou itself. However, the other references are mostly symbolic.
Additional Resources to explore:
What inspired you to write about the bayou ecosystem?
Rania: I really wanted to focus on specific plants that are native to the south or at least very popular here. One of which is Spanish moss. I absolutely LOVE Spanish moss. Not only is Spanish moss beautiful and gives a really amazing ambiance, but it is also non-parasitic and often blamed for hurting the trees in which they reside-but they really don't! That is the reason why I personally love them and also why the moss is so important to the ecosystem! I also wanted to point out the importance of swamp and bayou ecosystems, which unfortunately are being rapidly developing into housing and other infrastructure projects, which greatly lessens the biodiversity of the habitats. It's pretty saddening to see how the community not only in Texas but also Louisiana has changed so much. So I think that's a really important part of conservation as well.
Do you reference the Spanish moss anywhere in the poem?
Rania: In terms of references to Spanish moss there's only one time I explicitly reference it, "body at the bottom of the lake '' being the whole bayou itself. However, the other references are mostly symbolic.
Additional Resources to explore: