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Nancy Simpson's LIVING ABOVE THE FROST LINE, New and Selected Poems was published by Carolina Wren Press (N.C. Laureate Series, 2010.) She is the author of ACROSS WATER and NIGHT STUDENT, State Street Press, still available on WWW at Alibris and Books Again. Her poems have been published in Southern Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, The Georgia Review and other literary magazines. "Carolina Bluebirds" was published in THE POETS GUIDE TO THE BIRDS, Anhinga Press). "Grass" was reprinted in the 50th Anniversary Issue of Southern Poetry Review: DON'T LEAVE HUNGRY ( U.of Arkansas Press.) Seven poems were reprinted in the textbook, SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN POETRY,(McFarland.) Two poems were published in SOLO CAFE, Two more poems were published in SOLO NOVO."In the Nantahala Gorge" was published in Pisgah Review. "Studying Winter" was reprinted in Pirene's Fountain Anthology and "The Collection" in Collecting Life Anthology. Most recently, Southern Poetry Review Edited by James Smith, published "Our Great Depression," and The Southern Poetry Anthology Vol. VII: NORTH CAROLINA,Edited by William Wright, reprinted "Leaving in the Dead of Winter."

Thursday, April 29, 2010

TWO POEMS BY BRENDA KAY LEDFORD - Poet of the Month




THE RED HOUSE

I often dream
of the old red house,
a place of peace
where no one harmed me.

I often dream
of the red plank house
filling my heart with scenes
gentle as a stream.

I often dream
of my childhood home,
rain tapping the tin roof
like a drum, Mama humming

hymns as she baked bread,
and Daddy telling Irish stories.
From the front porch
watching falling stars

and sunsets blazing across
Shew Bird Mountain,
the old red house whispered
welcome to weary souls.

by Brenda Kay Ledford
Shew Bird Mountain




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Finishing Line Press
Georgetown, Kentucky
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Grandma Ledford

Crumbled cornbread into a glass of buttermilk.
Kept butter in the ice-cold spring
and drank water from a gourd.
Helped Grandaddy Bob strip cane
and made molasses each fall.
Stacked newspapers to the ceiling.
kept things she could use later.
Baked sweet bread for supper,
always made pink cakes.
Grew red geraniums beside the log cabin,
wore a straw hat in the sun.
Told stories about her eight children,
their names all begin with R.
Alleys wore and apron,
pinned her gray hair in a bun.
Pieced quilts from scraps,
gave her daughters a legacy.

by Brenda Kay Ledford
Shew Bird Mountain


WHAT OTHER POETS SAY ABOUT THE POEMS OF BRENDA KAY LEDFORD.


In lean yet suggestive lines of verse, Brenda Kay Ledford summons vivid glimpses of a vanishing mountain world. Mule-plowed fields, Lone Star quilts, clear cut hills bleeding with erosion, cornbread crumbled in buttermilk, lye soap and bluing on wash day, the tacitum speech of hard-worked folk, simple joys and hues and textures of a specific place--Ledford's beloved home ground in Clay County, North Carolina. Here's a Matheson Cove, Brasstown, Shew Bird Mountain. Trout Cove, Hyatt's Mill Creek, Cut Worm Phillip's store in Hayeville. Anyone who loves this place will see it here. --Charles Price



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