Monday, October 4, 2010

Taking the Gods to Task


Rolling hilled Appalachians

Oldest mountains in the world

Dense with pine, fir, beech, and maple

Civilization brings monster kudzu sculptures
Roadside memorials

Pride groomed lawns waving stars and stripes

Neat knoll-top churches

Jesus saved for Sundays

The basset hound bitch at the corner store

Drowsy in her sun-warmed patch of concrete

Ambles up to greet three strangers looking for Chickory.


We are found instead

Here she comes bouncing up in her vintage Ford

Impish smile and glinting aviators

Trout watchful at her side

Tail thump-thump-thumping

Back home to a place held tight against her heart

Pretty as a picture

Fresh as a daisy

Country cozy under arcs of canopy

Serenaded by songbird, creek, and chicks

Underfoot pecking and fussing

Vera, Wren, Peggy Jean, and Easter

The ground a carpet of tiny treasures

Delicate stands of unnamed purple flowers

Miniature mushrooms made giant by ants

Garden sweet and tempting

Lettuces accompanying

Pecan crusted brook trout and mom's mac and cheese

Sleep comes like a hammer to the head.


Morning arrives just as sudden

Air crisp and hills blue green

Up and down the mountain

Sets of two legs and four

While Trout rules the Cohutta with her flash and call

Two hopeful strays negotiate their share

Glue-stuck against our wandering sides

Hooks sunk deep into our hearts

We cannot keep them

Cannot risk them following us home and killing chickens

Nothing left but to fake and feign

Fun over

Dogs betrayed and left

Stun-faced at the side of the road

Blink back the sting and look up instead

See the uninterrupted sky blue sky

See the day stretched out young and hopeful

See that we are more than marks on the map

More than currency of chic-shopped mountain towns

Watch the ebb and feel the flow

Locals and carpetbaggers

People shouting howdy neighbor

How everyone brightens to see Chickory

With her fast flash smile

Blue eyes matching the daytime sky

Hard earned honest history.


And then!

She allows you to drive the old Ford back home

Mythic hunk of American metal

Engine growl like a heartbeat steady as she goes
Hugs every twist and turn of road

As sunlight makes a Pollock painting of the afternoon

And sinners go down to the river to pray

We drink and wonder at the how and why

The who did what to whom

The this that and the other thing
What bulwarks to erect against the encroaching darkness

The fall of spirit the death of independence

Until even the revolution must break for dinner

Comfort found in orange cabin glow

Flash of glass

Sheen of metal

The waft of something good to eat

As with all things made, given, and received

In the search for fellowship in a shut-tight world

We travel in order to make of the unfamiliar

Another place that feels like home.

12 comments:

Jenny said...

:-)

We are blessed. Beautifully written.

chickory said...

Lord have mercy, i might cry. Moi i loved it. now will it be an old ford truck and not the el camino?
how your own hills mustve looked upon return. i hope when i visit your big sky i can lay words to it as beautifully as you have done here. just a delight. thank you.

Pam said...

Such beautiful poetry in your soul. Brought to your soul. God's grace on Chickory.

Sharon Rudd said...

Oh, my, what a beautiful ode to your visit together.

Kymical Reactions said...

goodness me. You're words are very voyeuristic. I could see it, like I was there. I love that you've made these bonds with chickie and boxie, that shall always just, be.

xo.

Aunty Belle said...

ah, the appalacians and Chick9 left their mark on yore soul?

Thank you for sharing yore sweet days in the new familiar home.

Buzz Kill said...

"And sinners go down to the river to pray "

I'm not sure I know what that's about but I don't think I was meant too. I got a lot of great visuals from your words on Chickory...your Walden?

Karl said...

Good evening Moi,

The way you put words together can stir the soul.

Big Shamu said...

Sigh.

Heff said...

You gotta purty tongue.

fishy said...

"Watch the ebb and feel the flow"

Perfection.

LaDivaCucina said...

Excellent! thanks Moi, for painting such a beautiful picture of your visit to Chickory with the gals!