Inceptisol, and: Farm Auction, 2019

Inceptisol

        Inceptisols are the most common soils          in the Appalachiansthat old feelingthat brand-newsky-blue feeling—that feeling of the first greenbud on a tulip poplar tree—mere tens of thousands of yearspiled into one sharp layeron top of the graythat hasn’t had time to get color—soil that takes care of you        They are found on slopes and ridges      and are considered a newly-formed soil              as soils gountil the lumberingand the plowingand the corncut each fall rain cuts brown   in drops   in sheets   in rills   in gulliesdown to fill those crayfish holes at the springswhere you have to watch outfor the green-tailed copperheadsthat don’t know enough not to bitewith all their venom      If undisturbed they typically consist of a brown topsoil              rich with organic material           courtesy of the native deciduous forestleft upslopeno brownno greenno blue—just new earth        and a gray subsoil underdeveloped            due to its relative youth.

Farm Auction, 2019

White siding, green roof.Frame in the out-kitchen—  Grampy’s room:    La-Z-Boy, Earnhardt mirror;      brown boxes;        dust.

Fresh-dug pit, stocked fish.Dam Mud Creek—  pond:    trucked-in sand, stack of cans;      standing water;        mud.

Hot stove, roast smell.Pull up a chair—  eat:    braised duck, dressed greens;      Banquet Bowl;        rot.