Snake Den Ridge

Linda French Griffin
and Bill Griffin

If you hear me, it will be a nut falling
from the buckeye. If you hear me,
it will be a dry branch
seeking earth,
it will be slender fingers
of mountain ash waving praises
to the ridgelined sky.

If you see me, it will be a shadow
only one breath deeper
than twilight.
If you see me, it will be the twist
of heart that skips
a beat, the stark
of pupils gone abruptly wide.

I am mist that enfolds the laurel.
I am stone that reclines beneath black hemlocks.
I am a rumor at Maddron Bald,
a tremor at Mt. Guyot.

Raven is mistaken – this Ridge is mine.

And if you hear me, it will be the rising chest
of the mountain and its timeless slow
exhale,
and if you hear me
it will only be because
I didn’t hear you first.

ISBN 1-59661-097-2
59 pages/$15

Thank you for sharing with me the manuscript of your charming bestiary—the drawings are finely conceived and executed, and the wit in the poems is balanced with a good-hearted spirit I found very appealing. I trust this loving combination of your two talents will find the readership that it deserves.
—Mark Smith-Soto,
Director, Center for Creative Writing in the Arts;
Editor, International Poetry Review

This lively bestiary called Snake Den Ridge is inspired. The voices of its poems are sometimes haunting, sometimes whimsical, always engaging—and the artwork is equally enchanting. “This Ridge is mine,” says Bear. Thanks to the mountain creatures we meet close-up, this special place belongs in the heart of us all.
—Susan Meyers,
author of Keep and Give Away

The animals speaking in Bill Griffin’s Snake Den Ridge might well have wandered up to your porch to tell you what’s on their minds. No obviously symbolic creatures are these! Raven, skunk, squirrel, even millipede speak with distinctive voices. I wanted to carry on the conversation long after the last poem!
—Kathryn Stripling Byer,
North Carolina Poet Laureate

The exquisite drawings that accompany these imaginative poems are a pleasure of the highest order. And the poems are a new way of looking at the “wild ones.” I’ll take a walk in the woods any day with these two intelligent and knowing human beings.
—Judith Minty,
author of Letters to My Daughters
and Walking with the Bear

The joy of traveling is meeting the inhabitants of the communities we visit. In Snake Den Ridge, Bill and Linda Griffin introduce us to the locals by way of pictures and poetry, giving voice and personality to these characters. Each voice is distinct, each character speaks a unique view of the world, its neighbors, and the visitors who tramp through this hallowed place. This is a poetic bestiary to be enjoyed by literarian and naturalist alike.
—M. Scott Douglass,
Publisher/Editor, The Main Street Rag

The Artists

Bill Griffin is a family doctor in rural North Carolina, where his “writers’ group” is a hawkswept footpath that wanders the crest of the Blue Ridge. His poems have appeared in many regional and national journals, including Tar River Poetry, POEM, NC Literary Review, Pembroke Magazine, and Illuminations. He has two chapbooks in print: Barb Quill Down (Pudding House 2004) and Changing Woman (Main Street Rag 2006).

Every summer Bill assists Mike Barnett with High Adventure Camp, leading a small crew of teenagers on their first backpacking experience in the southern Appalachian wilderness. They hope to instill in the young people not only a greater sense of self-reliance and teamwork, but also a deep sense of connection to earth, water, sky, and all life. For a week in 2007, Bill and Mike hiked Snake Den Mountain and its connecting trails; they encountered most of the creatures that speak in this collection (especially Mouse).

Linda French Griffin is a self-taught artist and trained historian who studies human attitudes and actions toward the natural world in Europe and America during the late medieval and early modern periods. Her writings and printed designs analyze and often celebrate this complex relationship. Many of her pieces have been adopted by religious publishing houses and international peace organizations because of their emphasis upon reconciliation, stewardship of Earth, and spiritual harmony.

Living in the foothills of the Blue Ridge since 1981 with Bill and their growing family, Linda experiences daily the inspiration of the surrounding natural wonders and the vital importance of their preservation. She and Bill hike local mountain and river trails, and support environmental protection efforts of many local and national groups, including the Piedmont Land Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, National Audubon Society, Cornell Ornithology Lab, and the U. S. Geological Survey.

Bill and Linda have collaborated on many creative endeavors during their 35-year marriage (including raising their two children, creative in their own right), but Snake Den Ridge: A Bestiary is their first book project undertaken together.

While engaged in Snake Den Ridge: A Bestiary, the Griffins eagerly awaited the arrival of their first grandchild.