Ode to VA

Came across this poem in a magazine recently by Sandra Beasley

Love Poem for Virginia

Virginia, I have known another.
You are tanned, you are redhead.
You are braeburn, fiddle, pipe smoke;
Your dogwood blooms to my touch.
You persist, Virginia, even as your
Richmond grows dingy, as plans
for your Reston go astray. At night
my tongue drives down to Charlottesville,
over your Sweet Briar, the curves
of your Shenandoah. I trace the scar
of your Yorktown with my fingertip.
Your coal mines are safe with me;
I'll even hold your Danville, pretend
I don't hear you cough from the porch.
When we make love, you tighten Arlington
over my throat and whisper forever.
Virginia, your skin smells like cherries.
Virginia, I'd like for you to tie me down.