Used to be a mountain

back yonder, behind the house

rose up like mornin sun

jest as purdy as ye please.

T’aint there no more,

some men with money

came up here and blew it

to smittereens. All’s left

is that nasty hole o’ black

water, iffen ye kin call it thet.

More like the slush

in the bottom o’ pap’s

outhouse.

To learn more about the cost of mountain top removal visit any of these links:

http://www.christiansforthemountains.org/index.html

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2007/09/mountaintop_ministry.html#more

http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2006/02/16/reece/

http://www.hugg.com/node/1202

http://www.bookrenter.com/products/details/9780976881711/Coal_A_Poetry_Anthology/?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=cpc [I have work in this book]

http://www.blairmtp.com/CoalAnthology.htm

“I’m honored to be here with you. We’re an endangered species, we hillbillies. Massey Energy is terrorizing us in Appalachia. Little old ladies in their 70s can’t even sit on their porches. They have to cut their grass wearing respirators. That’s how these people have to live. The coal companies are the real terrorists in America. And we’re going to expose them for the murdering, lying thieves that they are.”

—Julia Bonds