Appalachian Elegy Read Online Free

need to tame and mount
    all at once
    they race
    to reach the beyond

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29.
    softly treading black bear
    leaving a trace
    green crushed
    under innocence
    just for now
    breaking free
    leaving forest for
    hill and mountain
    fleeing coonskin caps
    memories of
    renegade red men running
    fleeing daniel boone
    white wrath
    all nature
    slaughtered in
    the colonizing wake
    animals abandoned
    alone untouched
    sheer good fortune
    guides one bear away
    a gift of time
    with no boundaries
    for soon
    hunters come
    soon comes dying
    soon we are captives

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30.
    burning pain
    has its own rhythm
    back and back
    shaking the foundation of
    trees once strong
    brought down
    by fire
    by fierce want
    uprooted
    all solid
    familiar ground
    naked now
    going once
    going twice
    leaving damaged
    and broken
    unending
    blackness

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31.
    returning to sacred places
    where all is one
    embraced belonging
    an intense field of possibility
    wondrous goodness
    fills the air
    grant us great spirits
    another chance
    to reclaim and nurture earth
    glorious sky
    divine water
    in everyday the blessing of weather
    offering change
    a constant passing
    of life into death
    and back again

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32.
    walking the long way home
    walking ever so slow
    talking to be
    wholly in this world of wonder
    standing still
    waiting
    standing in the center
    of a long and winding
    dirt road
    leading uphill
    to a small house
    surrounded by lilacs
    black-eyed susans
    roses and honeysuckle vines
    a bench at the bottom
    that bodies may rest
    before they climb

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33.
    tap dancing
    on tin roofs
    heavy rain falls
    wetness spreading
    all over borders
    refusing containment
    flash flood warning
    sirens call stay in
    be still
    guard your heart
    let rain be
    the only necessary movement

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34.
    fierce winter cold
    mind whispers
    a lost landscape
    telling stories
    of how it was then
    seated near fire
    drinking homemade spirits
    sake and brandy wine
    spirits bring contentment
    for a time
    carry us closer
    to the sacred
    moving through bitterness
    our yearning to hold on
    to moments of ecstasy
    where we imagine
    we hear clearly
    destiny calling

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35.
    winds of fate
    take the air
    push it past the known
    in this world of nature
    no one can undo
    mystery abounds
    harsh cold burns skin
    fire waits
    raging tempests
    sweep us
    carry us toward
    destiny recorded
    written down
    past present future
    change comes

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36.
    mammoth caves
    places alive
    before the invention of hours
    paleolithic hunters
    painting the caves
    of lascaux
    horses shot with arrows
    wild creatures
    no longer seen
    cave dwellers
    searching for sacred paths
    then sharing revelation
    on these walls
    connecting caves
    crossing boundaries
    of nation and time
    bold remains
    of untouched history

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37.
    stained black
    Kentucky oak
    plank fences
    mark boundaries
    ghost riders
    where the dead live
    on the edge of time
    slaves worked here
    long ago
    caressing horse flesh
    breathing shared dreams
    cared for them
    when witnessing
    the breaking of yet
    another animal spirit
    born to be wild and free
    a bond forged
    whisper to forgotten souls
    run run
    go as fast as you can
    run run
    seek an end to bondage

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38.
    toward light
    each bird flies
    higher then higher
    then swooping down
    as though to plummet
    as though air a net
    to catch and comfort
    who can fear
    earth
    who can fear
    sky
    when faced with
    an infinite possibility
    each moment given
    a chance to soar
    to enter beyond

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39.
    ritual places
    a set offering
    dead bird
    on wooden slats
    carry beauty still
    stretched and moaned
    as though
    bearing its own cross
    suffering those last moments
    there are altars
    in these hills
    organic monuments
    calling the sacred
    rock on which to stand
    and know divine presence
    witness and testify
    as birds of prey
    fly high
    opening wide wings
    reaching past death

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40.
    on hallowed ground
    I cast the circle
    that there may be
    haven for the lost
    refuge and sanctuary
    turning to the hills
    I place feet on steady