little brown flower
all wild and free
growin where it wanna be

Mashiah

Illustration above: Unnamed, acrylic by Jeannette Harris; Index of Acrylics

"And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth while,
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To say: 'I am Lazarus, come from the dead
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all'--
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
Should say: 'That is not what I meant at all.
That is not it, at all.'" -- The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot

Don't forget to check ACR's extensive Word Preserve and XYZ Index of Appalachian art, history, music, poetry and prose!
Archive feature:
"Stone of the She-Devil", "Kol Isha", "Cherokee", "Boom!" , "Mokken Tell" , and Viva's Song
by Jeannette Harris

Some zine sections have background music, which can be turned off by setting speaker volume control to mute.

Table of Contents
(Updated for November September October)

Country Inscriptions BY FAITH ALONE Servants and armies of the Light "Merry Christmas 2007!" COUNTRY RECKONING Regional short stories, verse and articles by Frances Lamberts "Winds of Change" DISTILLED SPIRITS Enchanted musings from a naturally poetic land by Jimmie R. Pennington "The Homeplace Barn" HOLLER NOTES Historical stories, articles on Appalachian lore and genealogy by Oona "Dance" HOMESPUN Comments on town and country life by Wilson Roberts "Another Broken Doll" MOUNTAIN EMPIRE Observations and insights on Appalachia by Carolyn Moore "A Wild Irish Rose" NATIVE DAYS Every day life by James Owens "Now" and "World" OCCASIONAL TREATS Unexpected, unscheduled gems of interest and variety by Harold Janzen Four Poems RIVERS SIDE Country prose and verse from The Cumberland Chronicle "Field of Dreams" RUSTIC REFRAIN Articles, prose and poetry on traditional life and pastimes by Scott Nicholson "My Life in the War" WHOLE WOMAN Exploring experience and consciousness by Marian Coe Zipperlin "Gifts to be Delivered"

Mountain Features APPALACHIAN HOME Notes on the scene and environment by Jeannette Harris "Loss" GAS LAMPS AND COBBLESTONES Valley and hill culture notes by Martin Holsinger "Inner Revolution" GLORIA! A celebration of spirit in prose, poetry and graphic arts by Dory Hudspeth "It Began With One Kiss" RURAL REVIEW Checking out releases in music and literature by Gary Carden "Grit and the Bizarre" THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS notes and quotes on the state of the union by Jonathan D. Farley "Palente, Siempre Palante" Appalachian Scenes Graphics, listings, links to regional attractions Backwoods Recipes Down-home cooking section Country Calendar Regional events reviews ~ listings ~ archives Country Talk Mountain/Valley sayings and colloquialisms Links to Appalachia Regional website listings, including genealogy sources TripLink Travel around the world by visiting websites of innovative e-zines, newspapers and radio stations; country weather forecast Word Preserve Archive of articles, essays, poetry, columns, and short stories XYZ Index Title reference and links by author Zine Scene Publishing info

"All through here is what, for lack of a better word, is a power vortex. There is a great deal of medicine here because this was the home of our forefathers. When I go out to my circle in the back to pray every morning, I give thanks for every footfall upon this land, every prayer that was ever prayed, every song that was ever sung, every beat of the drum that has ever been heard here, every ceremony that has ever been done here, and every bone that lies beneath the breast of the Mother. Because it all happened here, and there is great wisdom here." -- Cherokee elder Grandmother Red Leaf, "Finding Your Past" in new life journal, December/January 2008, Asheville, NC

CREDITS