Laurence Holden's poem "Only the River Now" in June issue of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel & at "Seedtime on the Cumberland" Celebration

Laurence Holden will read his poem "Only the River Now" at the June 6th launch of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel: Volume 18, The Dead, held at the Southern Appalachian Writers Collaborative Summer Gathering/Reading.  This will be Appalshop's 29th annual Seedtime on the Cumberland in Whitesburg, Kentucky, celebrating Appalachian people, music, arts, and culture.

You can listen live to this reading June 6th at 12 noon on WMMT-FM 88.7

Laurence's poem in this issue "Only the River Now" was inspired by the nearby river, the Chattooga, the surrounding mountain community, and the way things pass there. The author says that it is the only poem he has ever written that comes close to being a story. After he had written it, he put it away in a drawer very unsure about its "narrative arc," or even what that really meant. Several writers told him it was very important to have this arc. So months later he had an opportunity to ask his poet friend Mildred Greear, who writes ballads, what a story needs. She said - it only has to be true! Without her saying that, this poem would never have seen the light of day. So, of course, Laurence dedicated the poem to her.