Jay McCoy
A Sylvan Sonnet
[Tug Valley / 1860 – 1911]
Red Oak, Pin Oak, Basswood, Hackberry, Beech,
Hickory, Hornbeam, Magnolia, Madder.
Whip-Poor-Will, Barn Swallow, Eastern Phoebe.
Bald Cypress, Elm, Sumac, Juniper.
Hop Tree, Chestnut Oak, Yellow Birch, Red Spruce.
Pine Sisken, Killdeer, Orchard Oriole.
Red Maple, Sycamore, Prickly Ash, Rue,
Sugar Maple, Storax, Sopadilla.
Kudzu, Silvergrass, Knotweed, Musk Thistle.
Silverbell, Scrub Pine, Black Locust, Hemlock,
Trumpet Creeper, Willow, Honeysuckle.
Turkey Vulture, Indigo Bunting, Crow.
Cottonwood, Laurel, Tuliptree, White Pine.
Winged Euonymus, Tree of Heaven.
~
Recollections: Alifair McCoy
[Blackberry Fork, Kentucky / 1 January 1888]
The fire –
voracious
like men
at dinner
after a
hard day
poling a scow
or cutting
timber
at camp –
devours
every pound
of flour
& every ounce
of milk
we pour
down
its ravenous
gullet.
Brilliant
blinding white
sheets wrap
my face
as I open
the door
to try
to make
the well
to draw
more
to douse
the flames.
Low rumble
now cackles,
pops. Only
a few more
steps. Snow-
flakes settle,
graze my face
like too many
icy fingers
trace
my quivering
lips.
I hope
this
clears
soon.
~
Conditions
[Tug Valley / 31 January 1888]
Peace has been temporarily declared, but it is feared by the law-abiding people of the two counties that hostilities will be renewed after a great while.
– Colonel W. L. Mahan, Report on Conditions in Logan County
That peace done
broke; the feud
resumes. You never
know how heavily
that silence did
loom. It wasn’t
the War;
these so-called
hostilities have
fermented, simmered,
in every house,
in every room,
for far too long.
If one too many
times, a man’s faith
is tested, his will
tempered, as
an angry boil,
he will fester
& fume. When
Fates loose loyal
children from
a parent’s loving
grasp too soon, all
Heaven & Earth
will be consumed.
~
A native of Eastern Kentucky, Jay McCoy now lives in Lexington, Kentucky, where he manages a book shop and teaches writing classes. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from EKU Bluegrass Writers Studio. Jay co-founded the Teen Howl Poetry Series in 2011 as an open mic performance outlet for younger Lexington-area poets. His work has appeared in several journals and anthologies. His chapbook, The Occupation, was published by Accents Publishing in 2015.
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