Two Poems by Georgia Poet Rachel Bronnum, and two more forthcoiming in Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.

Introduction and Celebration of poet Rachel Bronnum

Rachel Bronnum lives in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and in Highlands, North Carolina. Her poems have been published in a number of publications. She is a member of North Carolina Writers' Network West. In 2010, She has two poems forthcoming in

Echoes Across the Blue Ridge

Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers

Living in and Inspired by the

Southern Appalachian Mountains.

EXPOSURE

A lone windchime

hangs on the hemlock branch.

When the mountain breezes blow calm,

her soprano bells make marvelus music.

Storms cause clanks and dank discordance.

Rain and sleet and snow

slice and spackke her once smooth surface

but do not destroy nor do they dim her song.

A survivor, she wafts within her world,

one sole orb,

adrift in the immortal cosmic whole.

byRachell Bronnum, first published in the anthology IN THE GARDEN.

The Pew

Artifact from a tumble down mountain church,

the pew captures me.

I raise my paddle, once, twice, and once again.

Sold to the highest bidder.

It's mine. I own this hard, unyielding piece of wood,

or does it own me?

I feel its secrets as I ease onto the seat.

I channel a suffering great grandmother

who sat here, rigid and righteous,

brave and bound by toil and duty,

praying for strength.

The subsuming past roars in my ears.

No comfort comes From the Blood

Of the Lamb Saved by Grace Born Again.

My neck stiffens.

Time warps, convolutes, congeals.

Heaviness is all.

Stop. It's just a bench,

a catch-all for the hall, so I say.

by Rachel Bronnum first published in Freeing Jonah V