West Virginia is my home, seated deep within my heart,
All its beauty and shortcomings alike. The funny thing is
We get a bad rap, but at least we never confuse the states.
It’s West Virginia, not western Virginia. Let me put up my middle finger
And give you a lesson. And sure, we bring mud in on our boots,
Make up new meanings for words, consider “buggy” and “holler” and “herd” and “ramps.”
But you’d think we invented cordiality
The way we’re all smiles and waves, yes sir’s and no mam’s.
Yes, it’s that place from that movie with incest and cannibals,
But do you have a day where hundreds of people jump off of a bridge
And everyone else watches and celebrates?
You never really forget how to be from West Virginia,
For no autumn is ever the same as one spent among the hills.
To a West Virginian “golden delicious” is more than just an apple,
It’s the way the trees change right before your eyes. And snow is no problem
We’ve seen ten feet hit the ground overnight. And driving is a joke,
We’ve got curvy roads galore, and deer are more of a hazard than anyone else on the road.
We feast on pepperoni rolls as the gods on nectar and ambrosia, and we spend our childhoods barefoot,
In the grass, chasing lightin’ bugs and fishin’ and huntin’.
You may look around and think the state color is camouflage,
But WVU or Marshall, that is the real question.
Everyone knows the words to “Country Roads,” but only West Virginians know how to sing it with Conviction.
It’s the coal country. It’s West by God. It’s almost heaven.
*This poem was inspired by Bob Hicok’s poem “A Primer.”