"Greystone, Tennessee" by William Rieppe Moore

Photo Credit: Zac Forbes, obtained and licensed through Unsplash

Greystone, Tennessee

A nighhawk has come with the night,
a whip-poor-will more like to

snatch moths and caddisflies
above the trees at dusk. Bull-

bat with a Boom as it pulls out
of a dive, it doesn't hesitate to cry,

Peent! Peent! to find its food
on the wing—somethin’ I'd like to

be doin' too, even if I'd have to be
mottled brown and velvety.

Truth is, I wouldn't care at all, if
I could abide the suit, to get my

milk like this goatsucker has been
fabled to do. Get me a barn to raid

to feel my oats and flit to trees
with that jawrin farmer afoot while

he—as I have done—slumps to lift
a leadlovin' shotgun from his hip.

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William Rieppe Moore is from Richland County, South Carolina and moved to Unicoi County, Tennessee in 2012 with his wife, where they practice homesteading and animal husbandry. He also enjoys climbing and backpacking, experiences that provide the material context of his poems. In May of 2021, he received his MA in English from East Tennessee State University, and in 2019 he began teaching. His work has appeared in James Dickey Review, Ligeia, Still: The Journal, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, Vita Brevis, and Tiny Seed Literary Journal. His work is forthcoming in American Diversity Report as well as Voices.