west virginia

-

buckhannon miner
summer vacation spent at
dad's black lung clinic
(1-07)






so close to halfway -
fourth's morning stillness
at harper's ferry
(9-10)





called sinks of gandy
by locals, long cool cave holds
childhood memory
(7-05)

hot days 'n sinks 'f gandy,

huge cave in an open field -

now he's brought his kid

(12-14)

ginseng tea, soft kiss -
songbirds in cheat wilderness
seem t'find harmony
(1-14)





harper's ferry bridge -
hikers pause, consider moment,
river knows the hist'ry
(12-11)





griddlecakes spit grease -
autumn mist clouds memory,
road to droop beckons
(9-10)

oxen road pilgrim –

among th’stunning leaves, she sees

th’workings ‘f hindu gods

(5-15)

three weeks in the cheat -
happened t'come back t'town, just as
halloween arrived
(1-14)

souls' day squall outside

welch clinic - in waiting room,

old men with black lung

(11-14)

droop reenacter
writes letter to ancestor -
fell, but i'll get up
(10-10)





ghosts of droop mountain,
reencampment cannonball -
early frost's hard chill
(9-10)





"reb troops, three times more" -
droop colonel's bluster; behind,
his wife's weary smile
(10-10)





union will bear fruit
but first a bitter christmas
-umw-
(1-07)






dad worked in the mines,
died early, left us here in
buckley, t'wait for spring
(3-10)






mountaintop blown out
blossoms ring miners' hollows
long road into welch
(1-07)

cap 'n' gown in his pack,

takes one last look, skips a stone

'n th'monongahela

(12-14)

drank here as seniors -
this may, the wheeling bridge means
the east's behind me
(3-10)

-