I was born down in the south, my mother's parents
Having been among the early refugees from upstate
New York's fearsome weather.  I was not there very
Long.  My parents moved to California, then to
Western Washington when I was three, so what I am
Is what that region made of me.  Though I've lived in
Nebraska now for thirty years, it isn't me.  It's insular,
Hidebound and stodgy, torment for a person used to
New ideas and diverse cultures, things a seaport city
Brings.  I don't think I'd like California.  People there
Seem vain and shallow, and I know I won't return
To live in the benighted south, though I do like to visit
There (before the heat becomes oppressive), and I love
The region's foods, the barbecue and file gumbo,
Collard greens and etouffee.  You can't get foods like
That up here.  The prairie's dowdy denizens eat
Beef and spuds four days a week, and macaroni
With bland cheese sauce on the other three.