An Appalachian Country Rag--Mountain Empire
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tec A Country Rag
Mountain Empire

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Wise Woman, mixed media by Margaret Gregg, Limestone TN


Graphic: Wise Woman, mixed media by Margaret Gregg, Mill 'N Creek Studio Gallery, Limestone TN


Connie Henry is "a 25-year-old Tennessee native currently living in Lebanon, Tennessee, and a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. As a graduate from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, I hold a Bachelor of Art in both Mass Communication and Anthropology. My studies in Anthropology led me to work with great apes and monkeys, including a cognition project using American Sign Language with Chantek, a male orangutan currently housed at Zoo Atlanta. Presently, I am employed in the corporate marketing department of a full service engineering and architectural design firm. I will be attending graduate school at UTC in the fall of 2001, working towards an M.A. in English: Writing." -- ch

-- May 2001
Shapeshifter

Dreaming of always being that great.
That figure of timelessness-
Power and passion creating the
one dream of which
you can believe.
Worlds away from similitude.
Frightening - it seeps in from
all angles, and all that's left
is loss...

I cannot grasp turning forever-
Forever unsatisfied-
Forever shapeshifting.

I want the desert for a lover,
Desert for my home.
The only mirror that held fantastic
stood long before me,
reflecting years of always first prize,
always blind.

And wise dismisses young.
And in the morning I am yet
another figure of what I was...

And I move on, before I'm gone.

I am watching years of memories
roll on time reels of wonderment.
Always wanting yesterday
and loving the extraordinary way
it was always something more.

I am standing-
Head of a clown dancing steps behind fear.
And I know that it's only a matter of time.
Time before it breaks apart
and visions held are secrets revealed.

And yet another shape appears.

And fairness enters not into
reason or justice or love.
Sense means nothing as you strive
towards grown.

And I move on, before I'm gone.




Grown



They were taking me home

to count their blessings.

I geared up for the ride -

Dusted off my boots

And set my fears

to wandering wide.

Dry air through the window

cracked my voice and

dried the whispers on my cheeks.

Red canyon passing by

as fast as our history.

I knew the night blessings.

I knew the night.



Eighty miles, the green sign - 



They were taking me Home.

For reasons I would understand

when I was "old enough."

When I was grown.

But I knew more of grown from my

burnt rock's star filled nights.

From my canyon fire home

in my heart.

And old enough will only wake

the sleepwalk me for the

American half-life.
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"I have always been able to escape enraging, hurtful things by writing." -- Gail Godwin

"When I dare to be powerful -- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." -- Audre Lorde

"Let me say at the risk of seeming ridiculous that the true revolutionary is guided by feelings of great love." -- Che Guevera

"At the still point, there the dance ends." -- T.S. Elliot



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Questions? Comments? Email Connie Henry.


Word Preserve -- Appalachian Scenes

A Country Rag Index


text © Connie Henry, graphics © Jeannette Harris: May 2001. All rights reserved.
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