Ars Poetica, Appa-latch-uh

Abstract

Ars Poetica, Appa-latch-uh Kelsey A. Solomon (bio) Voices huddled along waters’ edgessinging lines panegyric of rolling hills,God, and granny witches. They praisedher feeble hands, patchwork quilts, mythsabout godless souls, machines, but theirprudence did not stop the dig or the fearof coal dust in our mouths. Now we pinefor those lost landscapes, immortalizeromantic turns of phrases, sell imitationgranny-quilts at retail price,but those, those were their days,their thoughts and their ways. How do we build this time,write our tales, replant our thyme?With a little more acid to tastethe mud where coyotes roaminstead of red wolves, their bones arcanein red clay along those deified waters’ edges.With resurrections of blackbirdsthey shot for kicks, so silence will eruptunder lakes of drowned history,the void necessary to let our skinsspeak, tongues bite, climaxes reach, tradition sink. [End Page 125] Kelsey A. Solomon Kelsey A. Solomon teaches writing and literature at Walters State Community College as an Instructor of English. Her most recent publications in poetry can be found in Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel: Appalachia Under 30 and the Anthology of Appalachian Writers. Copyright © 2018 Berea College