You took me along
to fields where yellow seahorses
pump molasses from red earth.

We careen down dusty roads
you sing old songs
bye bye blackbird
birmingham jail
you smell of Chesterfields
peppermint and sweat.

You talk to tenant farmers
in the shade of clapboard porches.
You smile and say "My daughter."
The women give me lemonade
in tall cool glasses.

I am a fairy princess
forever safe from dragons
bright shining paladin.