the small town where my mama was born

has a Steak ‘n Shake now

a Wal mart

And a Lowe’s

They built a bypass through it

And stocked it with paint by number houses

if you go down Main Street it still feels like the tiny Appalachian town it once was

On the left you’ll see the courthouse where my granny and papaw married

On the right, a furniture store that should’ve gone out of business many years ago

And if you pay attention

you’ll see an old man with a briefcase

A hat

A suit

And a purpose

Walking down the old Brick path

Dr. Green hasn’t been the same since that Purdue Pharma rep moved in a couple houses down from my uncle

Of course, his job was never easy

A lot of black lung

Cancer

Old Age

But there also used to be a whole lot of deliveries

Returning patients

Dr. Green has delivered more babies of babies he also delivered than any doctor around (you can look it up)

But a few years ago

Opioids started tearing through here

And the neighboring towns

Some say even ol doc green had a period of time on the pill

Should’ve been a miracle drug “it’s non addictive” said the travelling medicine man, whose job it was to sell

He did not have a degree

His daddy was a coal

Miner too

Nothin wrong with that

Just the truth

He made money got himself out of the holler moved to the big city — almost can’t blame him for what he did

But then again, if it hadn’t been for him

Ol doc green would still be delivering babies

Instead of administering narcan

And I wouldn’t be standing on this street corner

A ghost

With a (still) bad back