Dockery Farms
Ruleville, Mississippi
“...You might say it all started right here.”
-B.B. King
Dockery Farms was established in 1895 to produce cotton, America's biggest export at the time. African Americans who worked at Dockery, including blues pioneer Charley Patton, created a culture that inspired the music we know as the blues. Their songs influenced the development of popular music all over the world.
Gentle Reader,
This place was home to cotton production for decades. The story goes that Charley Patton, a blues pioneer, played here periodically for three decades.
Dockery Farms
by Marianne Peel Forman
they say cotton was picked
all around here
stooped over cotton
bend your back cotton
fingertips bloodied at first
from pickin out the heart of the cotton
pickin out the boll
no time for tenderness
to avoid the dried leaves of this piercing plant
that gouges even callused fingertips,
even wrists
need good gloves
can't afford leather ones
for protection
hands raw and ragged
some can pick two rows at a time
cotton sack slung over the shoulders
dragging this twenty foot sack
heat o' the sun weighing it down
weighing you down
fillin' up with the expectations of the day
one, two, three hundred pounds per day
per person
sometimes more
unrelenting unforgiving sun
lord, i long for some shade
and today if you listen
between the breeze
that blows through the kudzu leaves
between the wind that winds through the kudzu vines
you can hear charley patton
original bluesman
singin' a spoonful of blues
maybe even a full ladle of the blues
singin' "lord, i'm discouraged"
easin' a "mean black moan"
with songs from his white black cherokee bones
riding the Yazoo branch of the railway
travlin' and escapin'
and givin' your poor heart ease...
Charlie Patton
How to Pick Cotton from the Fields
Picking cotton is not your everyday type of work, nor is it the type of work that you would choose to do. As a family, back when I was growing up, it was a necessity. Although my dad made good money working on the railroad, our family grew exponentially, or so it seemed, we ended up with seven of us kids. We decided we would pick cotton by going out to the fields with a group of other cotton pickers. Pick cotton we did, and how. Between four of us we could pick a ton by noon, automatically like we were machines. I remember the only other people that could take us on were the Latinos who would pick two rows at a time. Mind you these are mile long rows and the temperature can get upwards of 110 degrees in the shade. We would pack our lunches overnight and head out every morning with a crew of some 20-30 other cotton pickers and leave our house around 3:00 a.m. We would arrive at the field around 5:00 am. and would work until 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. everyday during the summer, weekends, to include all holidays. I relished going to school because that was the only break I ever got. Now, to pick cotton you must have a cotton sack with a strap around your shoulder that is at least 20 feet long. Into it and in a bent over posture you pluck the cotton that has blossomed out, as many a each hand can carry, and toss it into the cotton sack.You have to wear good gloves, leather if you can afford it, so that the dried bristles off the plant do not cut your fingers and wrists. I still have the scars on my wrists from lousy gloves. Although this sounds like a "Grapes of Wrath" lament, it is not. It is a story of grit and determination for a poor family who had to supplement its income in order to put food on the table and new clothes on our backs, instead of hand-me-downs. It will forever be emblazoned in my brain all the money we would count on the kitchen table as a family prior to turning in at 7:00 p. m. to get our rest before the next marathon of work the next day. I remember it vividly because we learned the value of the dollar, but more importantly, it kept our family together and strong as one. Our love and faith in each other never faltered
Read more: How to Pick Cotton from the Fields | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2183356_pick-cotton-fields.html#ixzz1zVIs5rRu
And below are some additional images from our visit to Dockery Farms:
Layers and layers of beautiful kudzu...
Pea Vine Blues
lyrics by Charlie Patton
I think I heard the Pea Vine when it blowed
I think I heard the Pea Vine when it blowed
It blow just like my rider gettin' on board
Well, the levee sinkin', you know I, baby...
(spoken: Baby, you know I can't stay!)
The levee is sinkin', Lord, you know I cannot...
I'm goin' up the country, mama, in a few more days
Yes, you know it, she know it, she know you done done me wrong
Yes, you know it, you know it, you know you done done me wrong
Yes, you know it, you know it, you know you done done me wrong
Yes, I cried last night and I ain't gonna cry anymore
I cried last night an' I, I ain't gonna cry anymore
'Cause the good book tells us you've got to reap just what you sow
Stop your way o' livin' an' you won't...
(spoken: You won't have to cry no more, baby!)
Stop your way o' livin' an' you won't have to cry anymore
Stop your way o' livin' an' you won't have to cry anymore
I think I heard the Pea Vine when it blowed
I think I heard Pea Vine when it blowed
She blowed just like she wasn't gonna blow no more
May you, too, have a day of cryin' no more...
Raising a glass to the artistry and soulfulness of Charlie Patton...
Namaste,
Marianne
Inspiring and rich poem written by you. Thanks for sharing
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