Topsoil Road

by Morgan, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780807126134
• ISBN10: 0807126136
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr

Summary

Robert Morgan's newest collection of poetry is a treasury of snapshots in time, celebrating the past and present in Morgan's native region of western North Carolina and the Green River Valley. Topsoil Road features two parts, the first flowing smoothly from Cherokee history to the arrival of the poet's Welsh forebears; the second eloquently depicting the intricacies of nature and how they are subjected to the world of man.

Morgan offers detailed memories of such people and places as the thrush doctor who could heal sickness by blowing into the feverish mouth of a patient, and the Blue Hole -- the deepest, darkest pool to be found in the Green River -- where hundreds of eels would appear once every year.

Whether describing the Cherokee chief Attakullakulla in London or the way a zebra spider glides across the sky, Morgan casts each poem with elegance and a rare sense of wonder, turning minute observations of the commonplace into portraits of delicate and amazing beauty. Throughout the collection, his voice and vision remain strong as he employs an impressive

Author Biography

Robert Morgan is Kappa Alpha Professor of English at Cornell University.

Table of Contents

One
Attakullakulla Goes to London	1	(1)
Signal Fires	2	(1)
Topsoil Road	3	(1)
Girdling	4	(1)
Thrush Doctor	5	(1)
Fever Wit	6	(1)
Wild Peavines	7	(1)
Sanghoe	8	(1)
Outbuildings	9	(1)
Blowing Rock	10	(1)
Squatting	11	(1)
The Blue Hole	12	(1)
Care	13	(1)
Working in the Rain	14	(1)
Mowing	15	(2)
Atomic Age	17	(1)
Heat Lightning	18	(1)
June Bug	19	(1)
Oranges	20	(1)
Vapor Salve	21	(1)
Beson	22	(1)
Companions	23	(2)
Polishing the Silver	25	(1)
Family Bible	26	(1)
Translumination	27	(1)
Hearth	28	(3)
Two
Sharpening a Saw	31	(1)
Wind from a Waterfall	32	(1)
Chicken Scratches	33	(1)
Convection	34	(1)
Heel Taps	35	(1)
Blizzard	36	(1)
Fulgurite	37	(1)
Wind Rider	38	(1)
Music of the Spheres	39	(1)
Π	40	(1)
Snake Fence	41	(1)
Harvest Sink	42	(1)
Crow String	43	(1)
Manifest	44	(1)
Bread	45	(1)
Amber	46	(1)
Oxbow Lakes	47	(1)
History's Madrigal	48	(1)
Tail Music	49	(1)
Mountain Dulcimer	50	(1)
The Grain of Sound	51	(1)
Madstone	52	(1)
Honey	53