House Bill 845

AN ACT TO CREATE NEW CODE SECTION TO BE CODIFIED AS SECTION 3-3-51, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DESIGNATE "I AM MISSISSIPPI" AS THE OFFICIAL STATE POEM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 3-3-51, Mississippi Code of 1972:

3-3-51. The poem "I Am Mississippi," by Paul Ott, copyrighted 1990, is hereby designated as the state Poem of Mississippi. The poem reads as follows:

"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."

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2006.