Clarion Call

I hear the Clarion River call,
she sings me wild.
from deep within her rocky shoals,
smoothed by fast and weedy waters,
fed by snowmelt from the hills
of ancient Appalachia—
she sings me wild.

A fierce snow pelts her icy skin,
her hemlocks stand serene,
impervious to cold and howl
of wind trapped in the hollows.

Turgid trout wait out the frost,
dug in the muddy bottom.
no bird cries now, no child shouts
to mask her call—
the Clarion call:
she sings the winter wild.

-Patricia Thrushart

Poet and essayist Patricia Thrushart has published two books, Little Girl Against The Wall, and Yin and Yang. Her work appears regularly in The Watershed Journal, a regional literary magazine of Northwestern Pennsylvania, and on the websites Dark Horse Appalachia and North/South Appalachia. Her poems have been published in Tiny Seed, The Brookville Mirror, Clarion University’s Tobeco, The Avocet, Still Point Arts Quarterly, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, The Indiana Gazette, Feminine Collective, Curating Alexandria and The Pennsylvania Poetry Society’s Magazine PENNESSENCE. In June, 2019, she won first place in the National Federation of State Poetry Society’s Diamond T contest. She is an active member of the local writers’ community, presenting workshop sessions and participating in live poetry readings. http://www.patriciathrushart.com