Explore the writings of Allison Thorpe

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Kentucky State Poetry Society
2nd Place: Allison Thorpe “The Women of Appalachia”

“The Women of Appalachia” moved like a creek and proved to be a sonic masterpiece from the “sing like the hills on fire.” The poem’s capacity to both lift up and carry an authentic Appalachian cultural motif fully invested in the land and the people all the way through with fresh and original images was impressive. What a beautiful poem.


– Frank X. Walker

The Women of Appalachia
 
Sing like hills on fire
          The incandescent torch and singe-smoldered notes
                   Of maple, sumac, persimmon, sassafras
They sing the rush and ripple
          That crisp-cold rides every creek
                   The strum of water over boulder
They sing the gospel of bluebells
          Returning to the dew-dusty fields
                   Faith of moss and earthworm
They sing rhythms ribbed
          Of washboard and limestone-callused fingertips
                   Linens bleaching the landscape
They sing like garden wind chimes
          Deep-gonged harmony of beans and squash   
                    Breeze-jangled gossip among the tomatoes
They sing the protest of mountain tops
          Fallen to metal claws ripping and ripping
                   The earth’s dazzled dress
They sing an anthem for the soot-haloed bodies
          Men married to the dark seams of coal
                   Their sun-craved prayers
They sing the slogged trudge
          Of the captured, the kidnapped, the seekers
                   Ancestors laboring the jagged mountains
They sing their hands and hearts
          The inky pages, vine-twisted baskets, rainbow quiltings
                   They sing until blood becomes bone