Weaver’s Knot

Weaver's Knot immerses readers in the lives of textile mill workers, weavers, and needleworkers of Appalachia, and intrigues with the colorful tapestry of ethnic groups who mingle there. We are introduced to a traditional folksinger with a voice "granite rich and husky," and a Romani poet who beguiles a bored coffeehouse audience with Manouche jazz. "Everything's a song," she says. "Mountain girls" skat, dance to rain drumming on city roofs, and sass strangers who try to seduce with cock-eyed complements. Here mountains settle around one's shoulders like a familiar shawl, sacred streams flow with prayers, and grandmothers four generations removed sing echoing lullabies. Here also one finds love for humanity--"cunningly organized particles"-and devotion to the mountain "landscapes dipped in honey."

A FLATLANDER'S MIND RESTS ON PEAKS1

VINEY PARKER'S SONG2

IN THE PHOTOGRAPH SHE LIFTS HER HANDS4

ELIZABETH'S MELODY5

THE HILLS' EMBRACE6

ANSWERING SPRING AT RED CLAY8

A "GYPSY" (ROMA!) POET WALKS INTO A COFFEESHOP11

MOUNTAIN GIRLS PLAY JAZZ (For Grandmother Ophelia)13

AN INCANTATION FOR MY GRANDMOTHERS14

WEAVER'S KNOT15

HIGH LONESOME17

LESSON18

CANNIE'S LEGACY19

BACK WHEN I WAS JUICY20

FERTILE FIELDS21

NEAR ALL SAINTS' EVE22

MYSTERIES23

TWO SHORT POEMS FOR THE COSMOS24

COLLAPSE25

MY FATHER'S HANDS26

BREATHE, MAMA, BREATHE27

GARDEN ARITHMETIC28

LAUNDRY DAY29

RED SILK SHEETS30

UNORTHODOX RHYME31

MY BEATITUDES32

LIFE IN THE MIDDLE OF LIFE33

BALD TIRES34

LIBERATORS IN THE PARK36

WINTER PRINCESS39

MANY STREAMS40

VINTAGE42

THE EFFICACY OF PEARS43

PIEDMONT AFTER BOTTICELLI, 195944

MOUNTAINS MANTLE ME45