- Inceptisol, and: Farm Auction, 2019
Inceptisol
Inceptisols are the most common soils in the Appalachiansthat old feelingthat brand-newsky-blue feeling—that feeling of the first greenbud on a tulip poplar tree—mere tens of thousands of yearspiled into one sharp layeron top of the graythat hasn’t had time to get color—soil that takes care of you They are found on slopes and ridges and are considered a newly-formed soil as soils gountil the lumberingand the plowingand the corncut each fall [End Page 147] rain cuts brown in drops in sheets in rills in gulliesdown to fill those crayfish holes at the springswhere you have to watch outfor the green-tailed copperheadsthat don’t know enough not to bitewith all their venom If undisturbed they typically consist of a brown topsoil rich with organic material courtesy of the native deciduous forestleft upslopeno brownno greenno blue—just new earth and a gray subsoil underdeveloped due to its relative youth. [End Page 148]
Farm Auction, 2019
White siding, green roof.Frame in the out-kitchen— Grampy’s room: La-Z-Boy, Earnhardt mirror; brown boxes; dust.
Fresh-dug pit, stocked fish.Dam Mud Creek— pond: trucked-in sand, stack of cans; standing water; mud.
Hot stove, roast smell.Pull up a chair— eat: braised duck, dressed greens; Banquet Bowl; rot. [End Page 149]
ali hintz is a queer Appalachian poet and farmer. Their poetry has appeared in Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Miracle Monocle’s anthology series, and more. They are the book-reviews editor for the Arkansas International and an MFA candidate at the University of Arkansas. *