Kentucky Girl..shout out to Lou-a-vul

It's Derby Weekend! The Kentucky Derby is today at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky...my birthplace. The home of the University of Louisville Cardinals(Denny Crum, Darryl Griffith, Pervis Ellison...where you at?, Indy's Chicken, Kroger's, Whitey's corner store, Kentucky Kingdom and Chickasaw Park.
But this ain't the Louisville you see when you watch the Derby on TV. On TV you see the ladies in the huge hats and men in suits smoking cigars. It looks like Churchill Downs is in the richest neighborhood, but it's not. Go down a few blocks and you'll find ladies with gold teeth and hair extensions and men smoking something a wee bit smaller than cigars. You might even run into the neighborhood church where my cousin Lil Tim used to play the drums. This is the Louisville that this Kentucky girl knows and loves.
For my family, Derby weekend wasn't about the horse race. It was all about throwing some Big Red in the cooler, some meat on the grill, turning the radio to WLOU and inviting the fam over for a cook-out.

In honor of Derby weekend and my childhood in Louisville, I offer this poem. It's dedicated to my grandmother, Ella "Granny" Perkins who just celebrated her 81st birthday on April 23 and to my cousins, Sharon and Patrice Perkins.


1362 Olive Street
copyright 1999

11 kinfolk living in a 4 bedroom 2 story house
3 young cousins climbin up the stairs and runnin back down
Uncles pickin out afros, gettin ready for Friday night

Granny pressin her hair in the kitchen--hot comb layin on the gas stove
"Ya'll stop runnin in the house!"
Cincinnati Reds game comin from the small transistor radio
The smell of Vegetable Beef Soup Starter fillin the air

Boys from across the street comin over
"Ya'll wanna come outside and play?"
Cousins beggin, braided heads bobbin'
"Oh Granny, please can we go outside?"
Greasing her scalp, "Be on the porch when the street lights come on."

Playin' Hide and Go Get it...boys against girls
"Girl, Michael is sooo cute! He can catch me anytime!"
Stealin kisses in the alley...
..."Boy you bet not tell nobody."

Catching lighting bugs
Using their lights as shiny diamond rings
Puttin 'em in glass Miracle Whip jars,
Pokin holes in the lid

Street lights beam----time to go home
"See ya'll tomorrow"
Summer nights
Growin up
1362 Olive Street