Thomas Rain Crowe

for John Edwards Lane

I have come to this land,

how many years.

Alone, and for many months,

I have built this saw-mill shack.

Stone stacked and mortared on stone,

logs laid and joyned in joints,

rough oak boards nailed to beams and rafters

with 9” spikes.

Eat lunch each day listening to

rushing stream running over rocks,

through rhododendron, off Doubletop Mountain.

Sound of grouse wings drumming in the woods --

With roof on, windows in,

and woodstove sitting in the hearth,

I stand outside gazing at what

these hands have done.

(An old chimney, still standing and covered in vines,

now a place to live.)

Tired from labor and a body

too old for work.

Lay another flat, smooth stone into the outyard wall.

John’s Creek

Jackson County, NC

December, 2001