Elegy in a Mountain Graveyard

Run Me A River Run me a river made by a mountain spring Lace the banks with cotton willow trees Bead upon the limbs birds to sing Temper it all with a gentle breeze That's river-cooled; and then from far away Let me hear a raincrow once again, Singing upriver near the end ofday His haunting melody that begs for rain. And then on mirrored surface ripple-free May I see reflections ofa time gone by When through the bugleweed and buckberry A young boy came under a cloudless sky, And with a willow pencil-stick in hand Scribbled a dream upon the wave-washed sand. —Billy C. Clark Elegy in a Mountain Graveyard Come walk along this bony ridge with me Out to the point where sleeps our kith and kin Inside a fence ofrock, and new-grown trees Walk through the fallen gate that lets us in. Come sit with me and watch the lizards play On chiseled stones once carved by untrained hand Names and dates that time has stolen away With wind and rain here in this lonesome land. And who will say beneath the mounds who lies Asleep, or know the love they knew Erased and left in time to strangers' eyes Now silent as an early morning dew. And who will know that once upon a day We came to share their love but did not stay. —Billy C. Clark 35 ...