What a marvel
     the way industrious Appalachians
          have long managed to plop

their homes on the side
     of any available hill,
          propped up and held stationary

by wood beams, cement and magic--
     Generation after generation
          the houses stand, bold against

gully-washers and blizzards,
     defying nature and common sense.
          Through bare winter trees

you see them--
     red and brown and gray
          with impossible driveways

and rooflines to match.
     Like the people here
          the houses are boastfully

rough, worn, often irrational
     but standing strong
          against all odds.