Kingwood, West Virginia

I almost died in West Virginia, not from the cold or heat—
in winter there’s dead trees to burn, in summer the Cheat River.
Perhaps I would have died laughing or crying or dancing or
falling off a tractor while making a sharp turn up a hill.

I almost died of heartbreak for all the losses—cave-ins,
explosions, black lung, murders, mine wars, drugs, medical
malpractice or no practice at all, from bulldozers on mountains,
from unregulated logging, from inequity, or from heartbreak
leaving behind—road trips, the rally in Harlan, court battles,
the beer garden, picnics, mountains, woodlands,

+++the people.

I bow my head to a gravestone, know how much it takes to save
a loved one’s life, to stretch it out far beyond what the Docs thought
was possible—not to believe data, the diagnosis and prognosis,
not to leave the bedside
++++++++++++++++++that your loved ones should live
no matter what—not to leave

++++to stand tall and straight with life in your hands breathing
swearing that you could keep standing like that, life in both hands.

I wrap my arms around the gravestones, trees, remnants of history
+++in view of these mountains
++++++++formed 480 million years ago

+++++++++++++++++++that dare us to tear them down.

Click here to read Dorothy Shubow Nelson on the origin of the poem.

Image: “The Cheat River Gorge” by sf-dvs, licensed under CC 2.0.

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Dorothy Shubow Nelson

Dorothy Shubow Nelson’s poems have appeared in: Carrying the Branch: Poets in Search of Peace, 2017; We Are the Port: Stories of Place, Perseverance and Pride, 2015; Polis IV, 2014; Human Architecture VII, 2009; Consequence Vol. I, 2009; Atelier; Café Review; The Bridge; North Shore North; Rhythm Music Magazine; Illusions (Boston Conservatory); Sojourner; and various community newspapers. Her review of Viet Nam Veteran, Bruce Weigl’s collection, The Abundance of Nothing, was published in Consequence Magazine, Vol. V, 2013. Formerly a teacher of writing and literature and Senior Lecturer in English at UMass/Boston, she has published The Dream of the Sea, Early Poems, 2008 and a chapbook, Something Near. She is the editor of The Inner Voice and The Outer World, Writings by Veterans and Their Families, published in 2017. She has led the Cape Ann Veterans Writing Workshop since the fall of 2013. For this work she received a Commendation Medal from Cape Ann Veterans Services. She has convened and curated numerous poetry readings and events for the Gloucester Writers Center and serves on the advisory board.

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• Kingwood, West Virginia - December 10, 2021