"Down in some lone valley, in a lonesome place....."
These Appalachian mountains drew me in,
irresistibly enticed me like Calypso calling to Odysseus,
magnetized me before I ever knew it.
I was drawn here to this powerful feminine vortex,
spinning us all inward into creativity,
and a type of madness.
Oh, bring it on!
I knew, in my thirties,
somehow these mountains were giving me that,
giving me the green light,
the giant "YES!" to the new, the creative, the visionary.
I was nurtured in the lap of the Great Mother,
Grandmother Mountain spilling out Her generous strength,
as She has done through millennia.
And yes, we are still here.
Perhaps the wind and the rain are Grandmother's doing,
noticing the dust on the table, deciding to clean it up.
Perhaps this exquisite newness, the painter's palette,
the untuned string,
opened to me as they have to other beings
for thousands and thousands of years.
"Where the wild birds do whistle and their notes do increase...."
(from the old mountain ballad, "Pretty Saro")
Annelinde Metzner
October 3, 2024
Here in my beloved Appalachian Mountains, all we beings have experienced the devastation of Hurricane Helene on September 27, 2024. Many poems have poured from me since then, undoubtedly arising from the ancient soul connection the Mountains have given me.
Rhododendrons at Craggy Gardens
