West Virginia
-->bates holler pastor’s intent on th’message – th’kid waits
f’r th’outdoor clogging t’start
(2-18)
buckhannon miner -
summer vacation spent at
dad's black lung clinic
(1-07)
sounds ‘f th’cloggers shoes –
in boone county, th’outdoor dance
echoes up th’hollows
(3-17)
from tinted windows,
th’folks ‘f parkersburg avoid him –
must have crossed dupont
(1-16)
so close to halfway -
fourth's morning stillness
at harper's ferry
(9-10)
harper’s ferry bridge –
hiker’s been in th’woods so long,
th’crackers hurt his ears
(1-17)
road to th’sinks ‘f gandy –
th’green rocky fields, so diff’rent
‘n’ he’s still aboveground
(1-18)
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)
come from far away
t’ th’cool sinks ‘f gandy in th’summer
just t’see ‘f he still can
(9-16)
paw paw fair hustler
always tries t’get th’newlyweds –
they’ll fall for his line
(9-16)
-->
cleveland t’charlotte road –
th’car shakes ‘n th’weeds ‘f th’rockport exit,
‘n’ she talks ‘bout settling
(1-18)
morgantown front porch
bluegrass pickers – far enough,
at last, from th’city
(9-16)
ginseng tea, soft kiss -
songbirds in cheat wilderness
seem t'find harmony
(1-14)
three a m’n’ th’locusts
announce th’hiker’s arrival
‘n th’town ‘f harper’s ferry
(1-18)
walked up from georgia –
won’t let th’harpers ferry punks
spoil her afternoon
(10-15)
quite pretty, with her
picnic lunch – jefferson rock,
she says, is halfway
(10-15)
in good condition,
she says, fording th’potomac –
‘n’ has ten grandchildren
(10-15)
stopped ‘t jefferson rock –
through-hikers say they’re halfway,
‘n’ it’s time t’celebrate
(10-17)
harper's ferry bridge -
hikers pause, consider moment,
river knows the hist'ry
(12-11)
harper’s ferry bridge –
‘n th’quiet river, th’through hiker
throws th’rock from his boot
(9-17)
griddlecakes spit grease -
autumn mist clouds memory,
road to droop beckons
(9-10)
rebels ‘gainst th’union –
leaves change ‘n th’droop mountain forests,
th’war goes on f’rever
(1-17)
buckhannon football –
couple kid’re pretty serious
not much future ‘n coal
(1-18)
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)
droop colonel’s bluster –
they take such pains t’make these things
just the way they were
(11-16)
cannon smoke, or’nge leaves –
tired ‘f th’reb camp, droop colonel’s wife
burnt some ‘f th’griddlecakes
(3-17)
smell ‘f droop cannons hangs –
reb ‘n’ union both, love th’conflict,
never tire of th’show
(7-17)
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)
tales ‘f th’miners’ union –
welch man chews off th’piece ‘f beer glass,
cold wind at th’bar’s door
(10-17)
souls' day squall outside
welch clinic - in waiting room,
old men with black lung
(11-14)
back t’fairmont f’r christmas –
says being a shop teacher
th’only way t’get out
(9-16)
kanawha valley –
spends th’hol’days making youtubes
‘n’ learning th’social codes
(1-18)
-->
new year ‘t th’wheeling bridge –
‘n th’rearview mirror, th’mountains, th’bricks,
foot on th’gas again
(1-18)
morgantown fiddler –
th’old timers tell ‘f th’long winters
pickin’ coal from th’tracks
(7-17)
snow on th’barren hills –
big coal thought th’k’nosha valley
was theirs for th’taking
(1-16)
snowstorm, welch diner –
tales ‘f th’ones killed ‘n th’old miners’ strikes,
so little to lose
(9-16)
warm gov’ment car ‘n welch –
came t’look int’ th’mine explosion,
th’alarm disabled
(3-17)
dad worked in the mines,
died early, left us here in
buckley, t'wait for spring
(3-10)
-->
upwind ‘f th’chemicals,
curses dupont, knoing full well
parkersburg won’t thaw
(1-18)
mountaintop blown out
blossoms ring miners' hollows
long road into welch
(1-07)
wet snow ‘n th’blooming trees –
on th’road t’welch, victim ‘f th’smoker’s
aversion t’fresh air
(3-17)
cap 'n' gown in his pack,
takes one last look, skips a stone
'n th'monongahela
(12-14)
skipped stone, mon river –
mount’neer grad’s ‘bout t’find his job,
far away ‘s he can
(12-17)
drank here as seniors -
this may, the wheeling bridge means
the east's behind him
(3-10)
hatfields ‘n’ mccoys, says
th’old man, still live ‘n th’green hollers,
‘n’ prob’ly deal pain pills
(10-17)
kanawha valley
kids’re on th’jimson weed – hosp’tals
don’t know what t’do with’m
(9-16)
th’kids take th’jimson weed,
th’kanawha valley nurse says –
t’search for something real
(12-17)
don’t want t’cross dupont –
live ‘n parkersburg, get yourself
this side ‘f th’garden wall
(3-17)
appalachian glade
near th’sleepy town ‘f war – th’fire pinks,
she says, ‘re th’ones with th’bees
(3-17)
bees in th’glade ‘f fire pinks – she comes from th’town ‘f war, ‘n’ she knows
th’sting ‘f disappointment
(12-17)
arrowheads ‘n th’river –
midnight ‘n’ he stands ‘n th’gurgling cheat
‘n’ seems to hear voices
(4-18)
-->
dime off th’wheeling bridge –
they drank ‘n’ drove, didn’t think twice,
aren’t here t’catch th’spring breeze
(4-16)
e pluribus haiku
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