Spanish Moss

the Spaniards had seen nothing like it it draped the cypress like a beard it clothed the women of Timucua before the rape and genocide the voodoo priests of Louisiana fashioned it to hex dolls perhaps to even up a score or lend some hope to oppression under the shadowed dueling oaks he met his final distraction the moss waved like his lover's hair and the challenger's shot rang out it was a good fiber for bousillage retted it made a fine mattress it stuffed the seats of cars now it is relegated to arts and crafts still beneath the oak and bald cypress it crowns the canopy providing shade it is un-offended by its arcane history with no regard for the whims of man