Karen Whittington Nelson
Karen Whittington Nelson writes poetry and fiction from her small Southeastern Ohio farm. She reads with the Women of Appalachia Project. Her work has been published in Northern Appalachia Review, the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, the WOAP/Women Speak Anthologies, Gyroscope Review and Pudding Magazine.Preview (opens in a new tab)
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My husband prefers
a sky with all its tempers
to a plastered ceiling compressing his thoughts;
tramping through fields
regardless the season;
the solitude of a wildwood
to a box built of felled timbers, stripped of dignity,
forced to conform to right angles.
Though he envies the birds
and the wildlings their freedom,
he has yet to go feral. Unlike the house cats
that find their way to Wild Cat Hollow and
spend their nights prowling the thickets
for pretty, feathered birds, my love,
persistently returns at dusk,
content to nest with me.
Sheila-Na-Gig online 