Runyon will read from her recent book of poems, Where Is Our Prague Spring?, at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Cullowhee, NC on Sunday, September 24. The heart of this book, written during Black Lives Matter events, puts forward a history of progressivism in Appalachia. It challenges the common stereotype of the region as backwards and racist and presents an alternative view of both past and present without whitewashing either. The reading will be followed by a discussion of “Love, Race, and Hate in Appalachia.” Scroll all the way down for a sample poem.
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Where Is Our Prague Spring?: $20 + $4 shipping
at the Cherokee-Scottish Festival in Franklin, North Carolina
not far from the “Qualla Boundary,” which is still home
to the Cherokee who escaped
the Trail of Tears
my cousin and I stand
at the table of Cherokee artisans
viewing the exquisite two-color baskets
the sleek carved panthers and bears
the roughly chiseled stone
from the crowd at the table an elderly white gentleman
in a crisp red tartan kilt with all the trimmings
turns out of nowhere to say to my cousin and me:
in Sylva, they are trying to tear down
the Confederate monument, of all things
and he proceeds to say this bad thing about the Blacks
and that bad thing about the Blacks –
they should tear it down!
I interrupt, throwing caution to the winds
who does he think we are, my cousin and me – tourists?
the racists here love to talk
about being in these mountains eight generations –
that’s as long as any white man could be
our own family has been here for eight generations
we marched to tear down the statue in Sylva, for lord’s sake –
we weren’t raised to be racist
my ancestor, among the first Europeans in Franklin
deeded land to a Cherokee chief
to save him and his family
from the Trail of Tears
but we are not innocent –
this same ancestor owned slaves
has promotion of Scottish heritage
become codeword for white supremacy?
my cousin and I go and listen to the bagpipes
before leaving the festival
I love the bagpipes
they remind me of my Scottish ancestry, McIntosh
the bagpipe band played traditional tunes
including “Amazing Grace”
do those tartan-clad players know
that song was written by a former slave ship captain
who became an abolitionist?
the week after the festival the Franklin newspaper
featured a centerfold spread of the “Cherokee/Scottish” event
full color photos of all the tartans and kilts
not one photo of a Cherokee artisan
****
later I go to get my car inspected
at an auto repair shop I’d heard about
owned by a family of old-time musicians –
good people, I’m told
I’m curious – are these the kind of people
I grew up knowing here – heart-solid
kind, honest-as-the-day-is-long
mountain folk?
the young brothers working there are all pale-skinned
with ginger hair and reddish beards
they are incredibly nice, fast and cheap
when I enter the gas station cafè to pay
there is no sign of music or old-time musicians
just a poster for a Christian singer
who will appear soon in Franklin
the patrons, all older white men
look suspiciously at me in my pink mask
“not from around here”
they must be thinking
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