Change for the Better

Traveling on I-40 westbound from Knoxville to Nashville on an evening in late September, I was awed by the beauty of the rolling hills that stretched over the horizon. The slant of light streamed through the mist as dusk hovered over the deep valley painting a beautiful Tennessee sunset. As a native, I have always loved Tennessee, but something fresh rose within me as I pondered on a poem that might attempt to capture the display of beauty. 

I begin to scribble phrases on paper later that week. Like any poet, I allowed it to simmer in the chambers of creative thought for several months until My Beloved Tennessee was complete.  

Several years later, I was honored and humbled when TN State Representative Dennis Powers informed me that he and other TN State Legislators would be sponsoring a bill to designate My Beloved Tennessee as one of Tennessee’s official state poems. The bill passed both houses unanimously and was signed by Governor Bill Lee on April 13, 2021. 

Read the poem here.