The Appalachian Heritage, at Berea College, publishes works of writers primarily from Appalachian region. The literary review, which publishes poetry, short stories, and essays, once dealt mostly with the past. Now, however, I read on their site that they are looking for ground-breaking poems that look to the future, and the changes that have taken place in Appalachia, and the great beauty of the Appalchia Trail. I have walked part of the Trail, and can testify to its breathtaking beauty. And why I am an environmental activist so deeply opposed to removing mountaintops.
Some of the topics covered at the time of my publication there: Oral history; blacks in Appalachia, mental health; Appalachian folklore and song; memories of the mountains; specific skills, such as chairmaking (a skill of my own father, who caned chairs in his eighties); aging in rural America.
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The Appalachian Heritage, at Berea College, publishes works of writers primarily from Appalachian region. The literary review, which publishes poetry, short stories, and essays, once dealt mostly with the past. Now, however, I read on their site that they are looking for ground-breaking poems that look to the future, and the changes that have taken place in Appalachia, and the great beauty of the Appalchia Trail. I have walked part of the Trail, and can testify to its breathtaking beauty. And why I am an environmental activist so deeply opposed to removing mountaintops.
Some of the topics covered at the time of my publication there: Oral history; blacks in Appalachia, mental health; Appalachian folklore and song; memories of the mountains; specific skills, such as chairmaking (a skill of my own father, who caned chairs in his eighties); aging in rural America.
The excerpt--this is not the whole poem, which I would truly wish to edit--is not about my literal life, but is strictly metaphorical. I have seen poverty in the Appalachian region, and I have spent my life at the foothills, at the start. I have several poems which I plan to send to the more "forward-looking" Appalachian Heritage for the winter issue.