Blue Tick Mongrel: Pacing the Pittsylvania County Line

Abstract

Blue Tick MongrelPacing the Pittsylvania County Line Annie Woodford (bio) This blacktop tells of possum scent But I lead myself to a red dirt rising, Where lanky pine trees bend And whistle in wind. I stop and sniff, then pace Again, a dog intent on going somewhere. I travel with squared haunches Past tobacco fields all yellow With a tawny scent and let The bumblebee buzz me by. Even in sleep my paws twitch With the dream of this plateau: I’m running to the creaking pines, Orange with dust, padding over silent straw. Let me be I tell the truck: I left my shaded yard months ago. Strange men with smokehouses Shall not capture me though at night I bay For hearths and table scraps I’ve forsaken. I am the hound you find pacing, up Into the curve of scarlet horizons. My blood tells in the way I hang my head And move a little side-ways That I have a coyote way of knowing— [End Page 106] Somewhere close there’s a circle Of raccoon eyes, high Among pines that praise the sky. [End Page 107] Annie Woodford Annie Woodford is originally from Henry County, Virginia. A graduate of Hollins College’s MA program in Creative Writing, she now lives in Roanoke City, Virginia and teaches developmental English at Virginia Western Community College. Copyright © 2015 Berea College