My poem "Only the River Now" in June issue of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel & at "Seedtime on the Cumberland" Celebration

I have been invited to read my poem "Only the River Now" (and maybe some others) at the June 6th launch of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel: Volume 18, The Dead with the Southern Appalachian Writers Collaborative Summer Gathering/Reading at Appalshop's 29th annual Seedtime on the Cumberland in Whitesburg, Kentucky, celebrating Appalachian people, music, arts, and culture.

You can listen live to this reading June 6th at 12 noon on WMMT-FM 88.7

My poem in this issue "Only the River Now" was inspired by my nearby river, the Chattooga, the surrounding mountain community, and the way things pass here. It is the only poem I've ever written that comes close to being a story. After I had written it, I put it away in a drawer very unsure about its "narrative arc," or even what that really meant. Several writers told me it was very important to have this arc.  So months later I had an opportunity to ask my dear poet friend Mildred Greear, who does write ballads, which are stories, what a story does have to have. She said - it only has to be true! Without her saying that, this poem would never have seen the light of day. So, of course, I've dedicated the poem to her.