Who is Virgil Tate? by Greg Clary

Home in West Virginia, sitting on the cabin porch,
I asked my neighbor:
“Do you know Virgil Tate?”

“Sure. He grew up over on Dummy Holler,
up past the snake handling church. He
used to be on the volunteer fire department.

His mom and dad are Anzel and Faye.
His sister is Ramona. She bought
Bill Miller’s place up on the old road.

He used to be bad to drink,
but he got saved and
now leads a pretty good life.
Why? Do you know him”?

“Kind of”,  I replied.
“He once broke a beer bottle over my head.”

Greg Clary is Professor Emeritus of Rehab and Human Services at Clarion University, Clarion Pa.

His poems have appeared in The Watershed Journal and North/South Appalachia.

His photographs have been published in The Sun Magazine, Looking at Appalachia, and The Watershed Journal.

He resides in Sligo, Pennsylvania and is a Son of Turkey Creek, West Virginia