A Funny Feeling
- A Funny Feeling
You'll think you see herwalking down the road, hunkered downin her coat like she did, that headscarfin a knot at her chin. Turn,and it'll be a stranger, some old womanfrom way up in the holler,trying to catch a ride into town.
Or just before good daylight, half-awake,you'll swear you hear her talkingin the kitchen, firing up the woodfor breakfast meat and coffee.Open your eyes, house as still as death.It's a funny feeling—now I'll tell you. You don't know nothingtill you've lost your mother. [End Page 20]
Anne Shelby is the author of the Appalachian Studies, a poetry collection; Can A Democrat Get into Heaven: Politics, Religion and Other Things You Ain't Supposed to Talk About, a collection of newspaper columns; The Adventures of Molly Whuppie and Other Appalachian Folktales; and a number of children's books.
