NPM 50 State Tour: Mississippi

Mississippi, the 20th state, joined the Union on December 10, 1817.

The Magnolia State's poet laureate -- a lifetime post -- is Winifred Hamrick Farrar, who began her appointment in 1978. She is co-author of a book called "Poems Past Eighty."

I couldn't find any poems by Farrar on the web, so here is an imagery poem about the Mississippi River.

On the Mississippi
by Hamlin Garland
Through wild and tangled forests The broad, unhasting river flows-- Spotted with rain-drops, gray with night; Upon its curving breast there goes A lonely steamboat's larboard light, A blood-red star against the shadowy oaks; Noiseless as a ghost, through greenish gleam Read the rest at the Academy of American Poets.   I did find something while researching Farrar. A group of state poets laureate have started a blog, United Poets Laureate. Check it out!