The good Bastille shadowed
   the land and the people---
     Some shadows were cold
     Like winter shadows
     Which block the sun,
     Many were warm
     Like summer shadows
     Which cool on a 
     Thick August afternoon.
   
  The good Bastille was a Babel
  of harmony built
     With the sweat
     Of men and women
     Who grabbed at the
     American Dream.
   
   I shall bypass the Dantons,
   And Robespierres of this
     Heroic tale, instead
     I shall paint bold
     strokes of other
     heroes.

   Like Emory, who breathed
   Thick, white snowflakes
   For 48 years...
   Is that heroic?
   
   Or Claude Tucker, who
   Walked a mile to work
   everyday for 30 years.
   Isn't that a hero?
   
   Or Saucy, or Dolly,
   Or those in Leaksville
   Or Spray, or Draper
   Who fought--still fight
   Heroic battles!
   
   When the revolutionaries
   Stormed the Good Bastille
     They found no prisoners.

Photos: Fieldcrest Mills, Spray Cotton Mills