The Character of Mountains

by Dr. Delilah O’Haynes

People who built log and plank dwellings
on steep Appalachian hillsides became
the rugged mountains they clung to.

Coal mining gear, 1950s: a carbide lamp,
its pungent, stinging odor filling dank air;
dinner buckets loaded with egg salad sandwiches,
hot coffee, moon pies; flannel long-johns
and stiff coveralls – soaked in Tide, run
through the wringer and hung on the line
to freeze in January wind; steel-toed,
lace-up boots of worn, gritty-black leather.

Mine strike, Clinchfield Coal, Virginia, 1965:
men stood vigil through long, cold
nights, telling their stories over fires
built in oil barrels, fortifying courage
with strong coffee and moonshine.

Farmington, West Virginia, 1968:
78 men died in explosion at Consol
No. 9. Townspeople rallied
round miners, their families; Nixon
signed mine safety act, 1969.

A quarter-century later:
augers pierce Earth’s skin, plunge
like daggers into mountainsides;
dynamite shatters landscapes,
decapitates mountains;
bulldozers strip away top soil,
hack mountains to stair-step ridges;
logging and dump trucks
haul away earth and trees.

Flood, West Virginia, McDowell, 2001:
Eight inches of rain – run-off carves
new streams through naked hillsides.
Gymnasium at Welch Middle School
buried under mountain of mud;
town of Mullens washed away;
whole families smothered
by mud in homes and vehicles.

Mountain ruins flank back roads
and interstates, unnoticed by passersby.

About the Poem

Dr. O’Haynes is a professor at Concord University. This poem will appear in a collection of her poems called The Character of Mountains. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book will go to OVEC.