Poetry

Playin’ grandpa’s fiddle on the front porch swing

 As I feel my fingers dancin’ on the strings

I can almost hear grandma laugh and sing

In the Hills of Appalachia

On that country road in the summer rain

I could drink the air like a sweet champagne

Honeysuckle vines swam around my brain

In the Hills of Appalachia

As I close my eyes and draw that bow

I can feel the mud wet between my toes

From down by the river where we used to go

In the Hills of Appalachia

We’d make maple syrup from the backyard trees

And steal the honey from the honeybees

Together skippin’ stones from across the stream

In the Hills of Appalachia

Layin’ on the ground countin’ fallin’ stars

Chasin’ fireflies with Mama’s Mason jars

When I left my home, I left my heart

In the Hills of Appalachia

This old fingerboard is worn and thin

And the wood remembers my grandpa’s chin

Every note I’m playin’ takes me back again

To the Hills of Appalachia

Now the songs I play have a touch of home

And the memories linger even though I’m grown

I play grandpa’s fiddle and I’m not alone

In the Hills of Appalachia

Featured in the Appalachians book

He who knows the ways of the beasts and birds,
Who can distinguish them by song and cry,
Who knows the bright quicksilver life in streams,
The course that the stars take through the sky,
May never have laid hands to books, yet he
Is sharing wisdom with Infinity…
He who works with sensitive deft hands
At any woodcraft, will absorb the rain,
The sunlight and the starlight and the dew
That entered in the making of its grain;
He should grow tall and straight and clean and good
Who daily breathes the essences of wood.
He who finds companionship in rocks,
And comfort in the touch of vine and leaf,
Who climbs a hill for joy, and shouts a song,
Who loves the feel of wind, will know no grief;
No loneliness that ever grows too great;
For he will never be quite desolate…
He shares, who is companioned long with these,
All ancient wisdoms and philosophies.

Miracle

Snowflake drifting down from space

Masterpiece melting on my face

Tiny wonder of the universe 

But for a moment, you grace the Earth 

Miracle made by unseen hands,

Like life, you’re part of a greater plan

Though so unique unto yourself,

You leave your memory and nothing else