In Praise of Okra by January Gill O'Neil

In Praise of Okra

by January Gill O'Neil

published in her 2009 book, Underlife (CavanKerry Press)

No one believes in youlike I do. I sit you down on the table& they overlook you forfried chicken & grits, crab cakes & hush puppies, black-eyed peas & succotash & sweet potatoes & watermelon.

Your stringy, slippery texturereminds them of the creaturefrom the movie Aliens.

But I tell my friends if they don’t like youthey are cheating themselves; you were brought from Africaas seeds, ...