Description
Book SynopsisWoodsmoke is a poetry collection that renders the experience of living out life in a single, exquisite place—“in the shadow of the mountain my father said was mother to us all”—Mount Pisgah in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Wayne Caldwell, author of the novel Cataloochee, brings us the waning days of Posey Green, who cuts his own firewood, looks after himself, and tends to the land where his wife Birdie and her people are buried. Posey’s colloquial narrative poetry is presented as found verse, conjured from Posey’s internal musings—and these poems alternate with those of a new neighbor, a sympathetic female poet who observes Posey and his surroundings and creates a more formal poetic record of his days.
Trade Review"The beauty of Woodsmoke is that it gives us the pleasures of both poetry and prose as it unveils not only the story of one man’s life, but the story of a whole culture. I’ve long admired Wayne Caldwell’s novels, and I’m now an admirer of his poetry. Woodsmoke is an absolute delight." —Ron Rash, In the Valley and Serena "Sit in a quiet place, preferably in front of a woodfire, take deep breaths, and listen to Posey Green. His voice is a beautiful elegy for a southern Appalachian language and mindset almost gone." —Charles Frazier, Varina and Cold Mountain "A beautiful book that reminded me of things about our culture that are so often overlooked. Woodsmoke and Posey are rooted in the core of the Appalachian spirit: a commitment to hard work, the land, and neighborliness. Like splitting and stacking wood, this collection of poems honors the complex intricacies of a life so many might refer to as simple or easy." —Savannah Sipple, WWJD and Other Poems "Alert to the equal importance of nature’s most miniscule creatures and the power of one’s true love, this collection touches on the common threads that bind us all together." —Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, Even As We Breathe "Skeptical, thoughtful, funny, proud, and humble, Posey Green tells the most telling truths. I read this volume through, then read it again. For dessert." —Fred Chappell, As If It Were and I Am One of You Forever "At once familiar and alive with curiosities and the kind of delight in the unknown I seek out in a book of poems, Woodsmoke brings me to a familiar landscape and breaks it open for me to feel anew." —Matthew Wimberley, All the Great Territories
