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Appalachian Exile
By Charles Clifford Brooks, III
The vague memory of old roads
slides beneath cars.
All summer, through brambles, past goats,
over the heady smell of mulch and farms
the mountains are unmoved.
Kudzu frames and halos
signs, telephone poles, and hillside.
A tsunami of spinning gnats
attack tenderfoots.
Along creek beds, chest bare
to the elements, a man looks at
crawdads scuttling under moss-slick rocks.
Low shrubbery shields fish
from crushing beaks and rabid teeth.
Exposed roots reach out like gnarled fingers,
a handshake,
the tree feeling out water.
Whippoorwills modulate their conversation
from full branches.
Katydids are hidden.
The call is a vacation.
Any civilized woodsman,
or careless itinerant insects,
will be held by this spot.
Sit still among these listening acres.
They heave a trail of bread crumbs
to bring their wild boys home.
Charles Clifford Brooks, III is a poet and freelance writer living in Georgia, USA. He was inducted into the National Creative Society during his senior year at Shorter College, where he also obtained a B.S. in History\Political Science with a minor in English Literature. Along with his creative endeavors, he also contributes articles to several magazines and a newspaper. Charles Clifford is currently Poetry Editor for Literary Magic Magazine. In August of 2008, Ghost Shadow Press picked up his first book of poetry, Whirling Metaphysics, to publish in 2009.
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