Elegy of a Hillbilly
By: Andrew Mann
From the hills of Eastern Kentucky
To the epiphany of the American Dream.
A trauma-filled man named J.D.
Buries his hillbilly theme.
He liked to throw punches.
He liked to steal.
He had to skip lunches;
He couldn’t afford the meal.
He fought off drugs, although his mom couldn’t.
He lied to the cops, although he shouldn’t.
To keep his mom out of penalties foul.
J.D. was a hardcore hillbilly.
But that man is dead now.
J.D. had no dad, although he had many fathers.
On drugs, he watched his mom overdose.
If luck was air, he was drownin’ in the water.
He almost died, a few times too close.
Mamaw and Papaw raised him well,
But they don’t last forever.
Despite what time would tell,
Successful, J.D. thought never.
Poverty was a gene
Passed down for generations
To feel J.D. would be different,
Was a particularly odd sensation.
J.D. had no hope, future, or dreams.
But that man is dead now.
At least, that’s how it seems.
Standing in Yale’s lawn,
Shovel in his hand.
J.D. stands a man of change. At dawn,
He buries the old man.
His story is great,
But his mind is still little.
To overcome such a fate,
But still be so brittle.
So he fought off the laziness, excuses, and rage.
He got out his book
And flipped off of the hillbilly page.
That man is dead now.
He was irate with mom.
She wouldn’t stop using.
J.D. cut the ties, and
Then started grooving.
Usha guides him on how to act rich.
If Mamaw saw this,
She’d call him a
Sissy. But he’s passing exams,
Getting jobs off of interviews
Hillbillies say dang,
J.D., what about us too?
But he had to look past it
If he even wanted a chance.
The man named J.D. Bowman
Is now J.D. Vance.
Mr. Bowman is dead now.
Even at graduation,
Something didn’t feel quite right.
He looked at the people waiting.
There was not a hillbilly in sight.
They all had two parents
They didn’t worry ‘bout meals.
They didn’t serve in the military,
They didn’t witness drug deals.
In the crowd of the rich,
Ol’ J.D. would stick out like a sore thumb.
But that man is dead now.
That man may be dead,
But he has not been forgotten.
With many lives to dread,
And the big job he has gotten.
J.D. vows in his days
That their suffering will be done.
His hillbilly ways
Are gone, but not forgotten.
