Kentucky Is My Land
By Jesse Stuart
Kentucky is my land.
It is a place beneath the wind and sun
In the very heart of America.
It is bounded on the east, north, and west by rivers
And on the south by mountains.
Only one boundary line is not a natural one,
It is a portion of southern boundary
That runs westward from the mountains
Across the delta lowlands to the Mississippi.
Within these natural boundaries is Kentucky,
Shaped like the mouldboard on a hillside turning-plow.
Kentucky is neither southern, northern, eastern or western,
It is the core of America.
If these United States can be called a body,
Kentucky can be called its heart.
……
These things are my Kentucky.
They went into the brain, body, flesh and blood of me.
These things, Kentucky-flavored, grown in her dirt,
Helped build my body strong and shape my brain.
They laid foundations for my future thoughts.
They made me a part of Kentucky.
They made Kentucky a part of me.
These are the inescapable things,
Childhood to boyhood to manhood.
Even the drab hills of winter were filled with music.
The lonesome streams in the narrow-gauged valleys,
Sang poetic songs without words.
And the leafless trees etched on gray winter skies
Were strong and substantial lines of poetry.
……
The heart of America
A land of even tempo,
And a land of mild traditions,
A land that has kept it traditions of horse racing,
Ballad, song, story and folk music.
It has held steadfast to its pioneer tradition
Of fighting men, fighting for America
And for the soil of Kentucky,
That is filled with bluegrass beauty
That is not akin to poetry
But is poetry...
And when I go beyond the border,
I take with me growth and beauty of the seasons,
The music of wind in pine and cedar tops,
The wordless songs of snow-melted water
When it pours over the rocks to wake the spring.
I take with me Kentucky embedded in my brain and heart,
In my flesh and bone and blood Since I am of Kentucky
And Kentucky is part of me.
