Tennessee

If God had not made Tennessee
I would have thought it up;
A place to fish for carp and perch
Around the cypress stumps.

Where cotton blooms in summer
And the wild flowers hug the roads,
Where worldly problems all cast off
And pressure packs unload.

If God had not made Tennessee
I think I'd go and rob
Some other country's round top hill
And call it Pilot's Knob.

I'd set it by a river
Where from the top I'd see
Land and water far beyond;
The place that nurtured me.

If God had not made Tennessee
I would, for Heaven's sake!
Like when they dammed the river
and made Kentucky Lake.

Then I'd send a note to Peter
And maybe one to Paul
With a glowing report on the fishing sport
Saying, "Come on down, y'all!"

If God had not made Tennessee
I'd have done it by myself,
Made deer, raccoon and 'possum
And other game of stealth.

Made  a mocking bird to fool us
When he sings some other's tune
And a whip-or-will to sooth us
In evening's purple gloom.

If God had not made Tennessee
Where would I have been a lad?
Strolling down a summer's lane
With Mama and with Dad?

With straw hat down 'gainst the evening sun
And bare toes dragging sand
A happy boy, the world my toy,
In a Hallelujah land.

If God had not made Tennessee
With guitar, bass and horn,
Where a sound called country music
Was conceived and then was born.

Where fiddle, bow and banjo
Keep tune with patting feet
And loud applause enhance the cause
And never a stranger meet.

If God had not made Tennessee
Just think what we'd have missed.
No Smoky Mountains high and tall,
No skies with tree tops kissed.

No dreamy, bubbly mountain streams
Flowing down to bottom sand,
No place to say, when friends drop by,
"This is the Promised Land."

~ James Parker, June 1998.