Appalachian Elegy (4 page)

trees swaying

branches falling

chaos warning

of danger

she does not want

to cut them down

she does not want

to fear those mighty oaks

standing guard

for more years

than can be counted

strong roots sustaining life

holding back

the rush of time

let earth testify

they have the

right to fall

when life comes to an end

to move

in harmony with fate

 

heavy heart

as fallen snow

bringing behind

wet damp darkness

small dreams

coming true

green coming

from seeds

planted long ago

draw from this

winter death

courage to go on

in the face of white cold

see past this

all-surrounding

whiteness

that beyond

there is hope

that sorrow ends

 

when the dawn

is still almost dark

I rise restless

watch the

morning come

sly slow

movement into light

from shadow play

an unveiling

inside this dark heart

a yearning to live

as nature lives

surrendering all

 

fly high

dreaming bird

higher and higher

on the wire of time

no road blocks

no stopping

to think through

why wings flap

what makes

the worthy soar

only this

pure heaven

right now

sky high

 

barren broken hill

once a place of possibility

now only remnants

old glory gone

heritage sullied with hate

ancestors indigenous and dark

held captive

by soldiers and greed

by bloody conquest

battlefields where the dead live

unclaimed not mourned

histories buried forgotten

lost to a world of cover-ups

ghosts return to these hills

to grieve

cry out lamentations

mourning the desecration

of earthbound bodies

ghosts gather here

make promises

of resurrection and return

 

overlooking water

I stand

at the top of the hill

looking out

see swans on the lake

grand plumage

more elegant than peacocks

their presence mysterious

all secrecy

how came they

to choose Appalachia

gracing us with their vision

as we climb down

to be close to such beauty

that it may

open our hearts

show us such love

as to offer

no turning back

 

red beard

strut

strut

wild turkey

congregate

walk in peace

deciduous woodland

undercover

walk to mate

walk to feed

strut

strut

iridescent plumage

moving harem

doing a slow dance

strut

strut

 

sunken faces

a collapsing gray

shutting down

still bodies

standing in doorways

sitting on

falling-down front porches

on crooked steps

cold now

bone upon bone

outsiders come

taking land

taking life

stripping removing destroying

mountains ravished

leaving in this corrupt wake

souls grieving

earth laments

cries out loud

that justice may come

that it is never too late

 

with water

anoint the day

all this season

of drought kills

quiet slaughter

effortless

no need to love war

in this space

ongoing silence

absent wetness

call for surrender

for want and thirst

we are brought low

face to face

with essential need

a necessary yearning

we long for rain

for water

to pour into our hearts

an offering of radical grace

 

all old souls

chant

be tender

walk soft

the bodies of our dead

lie here

wildflowers

red yellow white

adorn memory

pink purple blue

lost in a world of green

all have been

promised

wedded to morning

that will soon come

tears fallen and gone

only faint traces

of grief remain

sorrow lingers

making soil soul deep

our weeping ground

 

in the gray blue wash of dawn

sacred secrets no longer hidden

make tapestries of repressed memories

soldiers lamenting

the tyranny of war unending

let earth renew

broken spirits

find precious

love once shared

that will not be forgotten

remembered confederates

fugitive desire

past wounds heal

bind broken hearts

give all to glory

beyond country flag nation

yearning for atonement

they bring light

come to early morning fresh

 

renegades roam here

fugitive longing

darker than night

glorious black bodies

enslaved

with no hope of

belonging

to land

in this new world

of white freedom and flight

some live to die

sleep with no dreams

some find ways

to unravel mysteries

threads of power and domination

a palimpsest of greed

they hope

and hope

for change

find homeplace inside

letting anguish bleed out

make way for new life

 

blackbirds

come rest home

let your dreaming

winged flying spirits pause

meditate

pause your deep soul be peace

for you can rest here

in this green

enchanted place

claim sanctuary

in these hills

made sacred

by native trust

small yet mighty

find your belonging

 

burning body of love

no lead turning into gold

flesh only

turning into pain and ash

the bodies and being of old men

coal black skin

soft to touch

smooth as velvet

as kid gloves

they once danced

dreamed themselves

priests and poets all

now they sleep

under loam

rich and generous

as a full heart

 

take the

hand-me-downs

make do

no culture of poverty

claiming lives here

we a people of plenty

back then

work hard

know no hunger

grow food

sew clothing

build shelter

moonshine still

wine from grape

we a marooned

mountain people

backwoods souls

we know to live on little

to make a simple life

away from manmade

laws and boundaries

spirit guides teach us

offer always

the promise

of an eternal now

 

star of david

tree of life

double wedding band

a nine patch

such patterns

once shaped our destiny

pieces of cloth

marking a woman's life

sewn together scraps

bits and pieces

tell us life stories

pieced by hand

remnants of passion

an unfulfilled desire

sisters coming together

making peace

offering comfort

ways to warm

to open hearts

 

fierce grief shadows me

I hold to the memory

of ongoing loss

land stolen bodies shamed

everywhere the stench of

death and retribution

all around me

nature demands amends

spirit guides me

to take back the land

make amends

silence the cries of the lost

the lamentations

let them sleep forever sublime

knowing that we

have made a place

that can sustain us

a place of certainty

and sanctuary

 

earth spirit

shout to raise

the living dead

each one

hear ancestors cry

mend the broken bones

wild damaged ones

earth spirit

know our wandering

our anguished offering

through time

earth spirit

reclaim soil soul seed

all the living green

help us surrender

that we may live again

 

migrating birds

come rest here

teach us

all life follows

divine change

find pattern in structure

go true north

follow organic spirit

guided prophecy

hidden among growing things

that there may be hope

in these hills that there be renewal

that all living beings

may rise up

proclaiming pure delight

beauty that restores

beyond all manmade limitations

be welcomed

 

wilderness within

wild woman

aging crone

wise hag

she who holds

mystery

stir the cauldron

tend the flames

bring life to fire

carry messages

from the future

a shroud of blackness

will cover the earth

sooted sorrow

so deep ash will fall like rain

heat rising

from unseen

burning

 

lingering twilight

all-enveloping mist

that which is deep within us

rising

fugitive desire

in these lonesome hills

time loses meaning

fragments of past lives

hold hostage

the will to nurture growth

slaughter hope

against all sentient green

living beings

offering no escape

mountains dissolve

as earth slides into ruin

 

harsh winter wind

again and again

soul deep snowfall

holding earth

shades of black and gray

among barren landscapes

the mind may know

a springtime of green coming

still in the present

the inescapable now

bitter cold buries secrets

put away

all promises of resurrection

 

stark stolen sky

no birds in flight

in sight

no sign that lush

verdant life

lay abundant

here

war ravaged

our hills and mountains

burns flesh to ash

turns our water

against us

slaughters thirst

makes our

longings kill

all is black

coal black greed

no way to choose life

when greed

brings the constant

sound of death

calling away

deliverance

 

daybreak

night falling

into blue shadow

gray streaks

as the trickster

chases memory

repeat

tell

the same stories

until the past

is left behind

 

my world is green

wild green

green with no limits

big bold green

growing changing

celebrates the

green in things

all green goodness

 

fire so hot

death so dry

just ready

to let loose

fierce heat

miles and miles

of flames

climbing hills and mountains

felling trees

calling all hearts

to burn and break

hold in memory

lifelines gone

a show of hands

The index that appeared in the print version of this title was intentionally removed from the eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

again and again

all fields

all old souls

autumn ending

barren broken hill

blackbirds

bring Buddha

burning body of love

burning pain

clouds dressed in gray

daybreak

earth spirit

earth works

equine whispering

fierce grief shadows me

fierce unyielding winds

fierce winter cold

fire so hot

fly high

go high up

hard rain

harsh winter wind

hear them cry

heavy heart

here and there

in the gray blue wash of dawn

lingering twilight

listen little sister

mammoth caves

migrating birds

morning dawn

mud sliding down

my world is green

night moves

no crops grow

on hallowed ground

overlooking water