Photo: C. M. Highsmith, Old Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama
“There is glory in the graves.”
“No there ain’t. There is only death in them graves. And bones, if they ain’t turned meal theyselves yet.”
“I’m only reading what it says, Gramma.”
“You is only saying what is lies, then, and it don’t make it no more true in the sayin.”
“I’m sorry, Gramma.”
“Hmm.”
Moss trailed from the old trees like cobwebs strung on homes for Halloween. There was eerie beauty in them. And sorrow.
“Why did you bring me here, Gramma?” she asked.
“Because it be part of history. Good and bad, you is supposed to know it.”
“It looks really old.” And peaceful, she didn’t add.
“I hear tell they’s started buryin’ here about 1830. Didn’t have no old live oaks then, or young’uns. Just dead peoples.”
“When did they plant the oaks, then?”
“Nearabout 1880. They trees is pretty, Chile, but they graves still got no glory.”
For What Pegman Saw: Selma, Alabama
Na'ama Yehuda 
❣️❣️❣️ beautiful.
Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.
AdeleRyanMcDowell.com Adeleandthepenguin.com MakingPeacewithSuicide.com Channeledgrace.com
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Thank you, dear Adele.
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Especially with the fence separating the white folks from the black folks. Potent dialogue.
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Thank you. Yes, there are a lot of things that separated white folk from black folk in that area of the country, as well as in that cemetery …
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Love the line about the moss hanging eerily from the trees like cobwebs, with both beauty and sorrow: that really set the mood.
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Thanks, Joy! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and that you found the description evocative. Yeah! 🙂
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I love the voice in this, Na’ama. I particularly loved this: “Moss trailed from the old trees like cobwebs strung on homes for Halloween. There was eerie beauty in them. And sorrow.”
Gorgeous writing.
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I’m so glad you liked it! Some cemeteries are more haunted than others… With stories and sorrows and regrets…
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Absolutely.
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Great voice in this. Really authentic. I also was convinced by the character’s sentiment. Well done.
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Thank you! I’m so gratified that this is how it read to you! 🙂 Yay!
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Haunting and lovely and sad. Great dialogue.
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🙂 Thank you, Karen! 🙂
And … yes, many cemeteries — like this one in Selma, Alabama — carry realities that are haunting and sad, as they also do stories of triumph and tenacity and honor and strength. I’m glad it came through.
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I think Gramma is a wonderful character. Her trenchant “Because it be part of history. Good and bad, you is supposed to know it” is excellent.
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Thank you, Penny. We all have a lot to learn from those who walked before us.
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There is a strength in this story which appeals to me beyond the authentic voices, Na’ama. I have missed your distinct viewpoints. So glad you picked the Old cemetery and I picked the new for our stories.
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Thanks, Kevin! Isn’t it interesting that some of us were drawn to the cemeteries? Perhaps because so much of that area’s history is tied into death, violence, oppression, and the struggle to undo it?
Thank you for this generous comment! 🙂
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