Lift your glass to the tale and the teller

Zora Neale Hurston said,

“Folklore is the boiled-down juice, or pot-likker of human living.”

I heard this quote today and thought of Zora’s work and my friend and late great storyteller Jackie Torrence and wrote this. I wanted to share. Write on, Tell on, Capture the tale within you. all the best, Kevin

Lift your glass for the Folk, and the tale

By Kevin D. Cordi

October 16, 2026

Sip the juice known as folklore, let it linger, to remind you to live,

savor the sweet nectar of memory and the stains that we think we will not forget but some, despite our best efforts,  slip away.

Folklore, the elixir of places, situations, and trouble, mixed in with people

who stand out---they are the folk that we remember.

They remain. 

We can’t forget, Elvira and Henry or the golden arm.

We wonder about the crossroads with Scratch or the wrestle with a bull.

Take short gulps so we swallow the trials and tribulations

that reach back to a man with a hammer in the hollers and the hills,

soon, Jack arrives, you know him, we all know him, by his tricks and his magic.

As the liquid courses down the gullet, we may find ourselves traveling to wrestle with Finn McCool or drink with Brer rabbit or play cards with Anansi.

Hicks, Blue, or the stranger dressed in black carries the drink, but we must ask to hear the story they carry and sip slow.

Like well-kept moonshine or Brazilian fresh-pressed Cachaça, the taste you will remember, and the tale will be told.

Bottoms up.