Abenaki Land

This is Abenaki Land 

Fern bending to the banjo,
voice raised in Appalachian lament
claw-hammering, her songs belong to
backwoods streams, mountain track.

I saw her playing North Branch River,
our grey heads nodding in the dark
Fern Maddie in her element.

Stage centre with the house lights down
she looked more like the settlers
she has come from, more the woman
from Vermont, Fern sounded like

a native singer, crying songs
from the wild mountain forest,
crying songs out of the heart.

I was taken along to a folk evening in Corsham, not far, a show with three young women, including Fern Maddie, on tour. Good?  Yes, i'd say so.