These hollers have teeth

five times too many

blind eyes from bad shine

the mine has collapsed

shells still in Matewan

 

Blair Mountain has ghosts

tobacco fields bare

coal scrip lets them starve

It hasn’t been long

since the company

 

Came to the high ground

private bombs drop on

public people – dead

their bones bare of flesh

winter descends through

 

These hollers have teeth

taking a bite; it

sinks into broken

coffins, chilling the

bones in their hands still

 

Their dead fingers make

Fists – this corporate

cold; unmoving through

Tip Top tipple that

still stands, another

 

Relic of dead days

these hollers have teeth

but the people have

lost theirs and much else

on Frozen, he sleeps

 

Gordon Taulbee grew up in a small town in Eastern Kentucky called Salyersville. He has spent most of his adult life in Louisville, KY, and holds an MA in English from Eastern Kentucky University. His work has appeared in various literary journals. Follow him on Twitter @gordtaul or find him on Facebook. 

 

 

Header Image: Creative Commons, Public Domain, modified.