Back to King's Branch



I imagine you now, as you were then,
with your glistening chestnut hair, clasped
at the nape of your neck, prim and proper.

Your misty cerulean eyes sparkled as
you studied your dim reflection in the
branch’s pool of murky green waters.
You knew that this familiar wooded path
would lead to the sunlit mosaic threshold
of your new home, on this your wedding day.

Your new husband whooped and hollered as
he gulped a swig of mountain moonshine, your
wary, resolute stance catching him unawares.
Grabbing his flask, your movements were swift
as you poured its amber liquids into the depths
of the swirling, crystal stream, quenching its fire.

That day, you sauntered across King’s Branch,
through dense, archetypal forests on that familiar
wooded path, leading to your future and my past.

About this poem

I wrote this poem two decades ago to commemorate a family story that my great-grandmother, Nancy Jane King, told me in the mid-1970's just a few years before she died in 1976. She was a wonderful role model for me in so many ways. She endured hardship in her life in the Great Smoky Mountains, raising her family during the early 20th century, but through it all, her faith in God's grace remained strong.

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Written on 2001

Submitted by kaleidoscopickat on September 02, 2021

Modified by kaleidoscopickat on September 03, 2021

39 sec read
7

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXA BXXXXX BXXXXA XAX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 777
Words 133
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 3, 6, 6, 3

Kathy A. Wittman

I am a retired college teacher. In the past, I taught classes in Education, English, and Psychology. At present, I am focused on developing my potential as an artist and writer. I have self-published books in the genres of autobiography, fiction, and poetry. I have a Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of Tennessee (1972), a Master's Degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Tennessee (1983), and a Doctoral Degree in Educational Foundations from the University of Wyoming (1988). I have taken numerous college classes in Art and Creative Writing over the past decade. I completed an Associate Degree in Art from the Laramie County Community College (Cheyenne, Wyoming) in 2018, and I completed a Bachelor's Degree in Art from the University of Wyoming (Laramie, Wyoming) in 2020. I consider myself to be a "Life-long Learner". more…

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