After the Burning of 5,538 Acres on the Blue Ridge by Joyce Compton Brown
Linville Mountain sits
stark with pale bone face,
erecting its own monument
of quartzite grey
shining like death
in the sunlight
against the valley floor.
Burnt trees stand like
staggered black sticks
as if someone had tried
to fool around
with language on the
mountain wall
and failed.
Joyce Compton Brown has work published in Main Street Rag, Kakalak, County Lines, Flying South, and other journals. She has won several honors in art and poetry journals. After retiring from teaching language at Gardner-Webb University, she concentrates on poetry, art, and roots music. Her chapbooks are Bequest (Finishing Line Press, 2015) and Singing with Jarred Edges (Main Street Rag Publishing, 2018).
