I cannot resist posting this. There is currently a heated debate about opposing this on my department's listserve. If you feel as strongly as some of my associates, please feel free to "Leave your local State Senator, Gray Tollison, a detailed
but polite voicemail about your opposition on this issue.
His number in Jackson is 601-359-3425."
This also from the original email: (via the humble D. Allan Mitchell)

"It has come to my attention that Paul Ott's "I Am
Mississippi" poem has passed the state house and is headed
over to the senate for further consideration as the official
state poem of Mississippi. There was an article in the
depths of the DM about this serious issue.
I know of the poem. It is of no literary merit. It is also
blatantly sexist, as it mentions no famous Mississippi women
other than Miss Mississippi. In my opinion, I also find the
poem latently racist in its glorification of antebellum
imagery.
It is also copyrighted material that stands to make Mr. Ott
a profit from its "official state poem" designation. Mr.
Ott is a passionate Mississippi gentleman and a Good Ole
Boy, but a poet of the first rank he is not.
Please stand with me in opposition to this sentimental
doggerel. I do not want America...nay, the world...thinking
that this is the best poem Mississippi can offer."

I Am Mississippi, by Paul Ott

"I Am Mississippi
I'm the land of the Choctaw
The hills of Vicksburg, and a cross-cut saw
Dinner on the ground and muscadine vine
I'm a longleaf pine, and Mississippi on my mind
I'm a banjo pickin' and all night sings
Azaleas a'bloomin' in Ocean Springs
I'm a Gospel Singer and the old folks at home
And I'm the eagle on the top of the capitol's dome
I'm coffee in the morning and an ole smoked ham
Cathead biscuits and blackberry jam
I'm a Mississippi moon, a dusty Delta Dawn,
B.B. King,
Magnolias in bloom
I'm an antebellum home on the Natchez Trace,
A rusty plow on the old home place
I'm Walter Payton catchin' a pass, Elvis Presley,
Coon hounds and bird dogs and tea of
Sassafras
I'm Miss Mississippi and all her glory
I'm William Faulkner as he writes a story
I'm Jimmie Rogers, the Singing Brakeman
John C. Stennis, a southern statesman
I'm the Mississippi River as it rounds the bend
I'm Gone with the Wind, ya'll come back again
Well, I'm everything good you have ever dreamed about
Hush yo mouth, I'm Mississippi - I Am the South."

I have been notified that the misspelling of Walter Peyton's name has been addressed. But he still spelled Jimmie Rodgers wrong, and Faulkner's of course better known for his novels than stories. Also, where the fuck is Oprah? I mean really. How could you ignore Oprah! Never fear, I have left mutltiple messages already, addressing these issues!

Enjoy.
CL