Patricia Neely-Dorsey shares her love of the South through her poetry. “I believe that we can bridge many gaps of misunderstanding across regional, racial, cultural, generational and economic lines by simply telling/sharing our stories,” she says.  “Through my poetry, I attempt to give a positive glimpse into the Southern way of life.”

In college, her nicknames were Tupelo and Mississippi. She recalls, “Whenever my friends saw me coming, they knew that there would be some type of discourse about Mississippi and the South soon to follow…hoping to clear up their many misconceptions and preconceived notions.”

Patricia grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi, in the red clay hill country.  Following her graduation from Boston University, she worked nearly 20 years in Memphis, Tennessee in the mental health industry. Patricia returned to her hometown in  2007 where she currently lives with  husband James, son Henry, and Miniature Schnauzer, Happy.

Patricia’s two books of poetry, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia- A Life In Poems (2008) and My Magnolia Memories and Musings (2012), are available from Amazon. More information is available on her website, http://www.patricianeelydorsey.webs.com.One of her best-known, “Southern Life” is reprinted here with the author’s permission.