Poem for An Act of God.docx

This story was submitted on August 12, 2026 by Diane Warman Blanks

Extracted Text: Poem for An Act of God:
Hurricane in the Mountains

I'm beginning to fear that
Back in the coves and hollows
And down by the creeks and rivers
That nurtured us,
Gave us commerce and roots,
The mountains are full of death --
Deer and squirrels and cattle,
Soft slopes of loam
That clung to the mountainsides,
The rich fields that lay
Along the rivers,
And people.
The silent dead
Wait patiently
To be found
Among the hemlocks
And the rhododendrons.

--Diane Blanks
Watauga County, NC
October 2, 2024