i.
my uncle explained meaning,
story, inspiration
behind words i memorized,
poorly harmonized
with him. he played.

ii.
i went to “the black school”
in elementary years, and
my best friend told me
only rednecks listen to skynyrd
i punched her, ‘cause she’d called
my uncle a redneck.
and that was an insult.
i got detention.

iii.
at high school prom, i promised
my friend i’d dance
the next slow song with him.
when the tempo changed
he didn’t know what to do.
we laughed and went back
to slow-dancing
as if nothing had changed.

iv.
i was escaping alabama
to carolina, to home
windows down radio static
until loud and clear
i’m as free as a bird now
i sang out to the stars
who never tried to change me,
anyway.

v.
i made a playlist, burned it to cd
for a tailgate party
30 seconds in people started bitching
i hit fast-forward.

vi.
song came on random
as i was driving to work
day after i heard my uncle died.
i had to pull over for sobbing
got in trouble for being late to work.

vii.
doing preliminary research
for freelance work, song came
on random.
stopped and wrote this poem.