Something is sacrosanct
about the whitehaired farmer
plucking a banjo.
I wonder what tune
he picks for the harvest.
Lyrics so holy, a cardinal
declares the broken fence
his front-row pew.
A psalm lost
in red, orange, gold foliage
painted on the hill
makes me remember
Grandpa Herman playing
Boil That Cabbage Down
on an overworked banjo
his mama passed down to him
after his daddy had died.
He then quit school to work
a man’s job on the railroad,
to provide for his mama and sister,
in Glen Wilton, Virginia.
On the porch, he practiced
until passing tones sounded right.
Music helped him shoulder change.
Fred Thrasher is a beloved Kentucky artist who is best known for his works that depict nature’s splendor at all seasons, in addition to portrayals of rural life. Thrasher painted Harvest Gathering circa 2011.
-Kevin J. McDaniel
Poet, Pulaski Virginia
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