MIssissippi

While more or less the entire collection takes place in the Deep South, most of the identified locations are within the state of Mississippi. Throughout the book Mississippi is mentioned by name in various different contexts and time periods, from the Civil War era all the way into the 21st century. The state is both where the speaker of most of the poems was born and raised, and where her parents first met. In addition to the role it plays as a geographical landscape, Mississippi acts as a cultural and political backdrop for many of the poems as its history as a Confederate state and breeding ground for contentious racial politics become the thematic focus of much of the collection. Several specific locations within the state that serve as settings for the poems include Ship Island, Vicksburg, Aberdeen, and Greenwood, among many others.

Ship Island

Ship Island is...