granddaddy built that house

granddaddy built that house
out of brick
touchstones
and cedar
and the hope of family meals
that would be cooked
with homegrown love

granddaddy built that house
for memaw
his true love
and one religion

granddaddy built that house
the only carpenter
and foundation building father
i ever cared about

granddaddy built that house
he was the
son of the appalachian
world renowned
cecil c bates
a holy man who taught his boy
to take care of his own
sew tobacco
till the honest earth
with a dedicated
tractor
in order
to keep sorrow away

granddaddy built that house
cherokee in our blood
he knew how to dowse
he found an endless supply of
holy water
with a divining rod

granddaddy built that house
three homes holy
he blue printed
then one man constructed
for his wife of forty seven years
with hands too twisted by
the cruel irony of rheumatism

granddaddy built that house
he knew better than to dig
a basement
into kentucky red clay
my grandmother’s home
never flooded a day
with muddy waters
she never had mildew
or cried over soggy pictures
instead he carved out
a root cellar
for her mason jars
and built an attic that reached
to blue skies
and stars

granddaddy built that house
upon a bluegrass ocean
for generations of
pitter pattering little feet
who would surely come

granddaddy built that house
for a woman that took
care of him until the day he died
and it was her
who we lost that fate full day

granddaddy built that house
knowing
it would be all of us
generations of family
who would be at home
gathered round a table to pray
within the true walls of it
sacred
and feeling his timeless love

granddaddy built that house
a forever noah’s ark
for a never feel sad
rainy day