Dark Horse Appalachia
Dark Horse brings Poets and Artists together to further encourage Poetry and the Arts in the Appalachian region (and beyond) and to support Coal River Mountain Watch. For electronic publication information contact studioappal@gmail.com
Friday, May 1, 2026
Monday, March 23, 2026
Shine More Light In The Shadows by Will Found/Blundervan
blocked from the light of truth
the ignorance in the shadows is a shelter
in which hatred dwells
putting up umbrellas of lies
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
to make oligarchs cringe and cower
truth expressions
truth expressions reflecting into the darkness
hate spewers deprived of power
oligarchs cringed and cowered
blocked from the light of truth
the ignorance in the shadows is a shelter
in which fascists dwell
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
children starving so more yachts can host
more whores to join the man-whore chorus
calling for forgetting about the rights of all of us
blocked from the light of truth
the ignorance in the shadows is a shelter
in which nazis dwell
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
help help help the hate fed hate led followers of the idiot-antichrist
crazy for their bully clown to
bleed the USA dry in a billionaire circle jerk
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
make the deceiver's dwindling legions
come to grips with their folly
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
shine more light in the shadows
https://blundervan.bandcamp.com/track/shine-more-light-in- the-shadows
Sunday, March 1, 2026
Sunday, November 30, 2025
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Roses in a Vase
Fresh red roses gifted crisp in a shiny crystal vase,
Deflated balloon danced gaily on its bobbing string,
Yet, spent no time or change for late night dates
Or other stale, male-female things.
Dry- bent stems flatter-chattered their small talk cheap.
Eyes saddened dull cried their cruel half-truth lies.
Stare-glare glances pierced hearts drowned in trance-deep sleep
As tender petals withered brittle, tumbled pity-parched to dry .
Gripping death shriveled crippled, dripping its unfelt cold,
Against a strain-wrinkled, pain-crinkled face,
As pink waned to brown, bitter romance waxed old,
Mere dead rose tokens in a broken, ring stained vase.
~P.S. Colley
April 1989
Rev. Dec. 2024
Friday, May 23, 2025
Considering Living
I think about death more than I
used to. My death. Nothing
as grandiose as the planet’s
or democracy’s. Something I
can grasp. I think of “Less is more.”
Like all true statements about art,
it speaks of life. If I have learned
anything, it is to discern what matters
to me. Not as a selfish pursuit but
more like a prophecy. A prophecy
of love for this world, my life, those
I love. The urge to be who I am
before I am a memory. To leave that
legacy behind is to know “the kingdom
is among you.” I’m in no hurry.
I don’t mind my coffee
getting lukewarm as I watch a robin
walk across my yard. Another prophecy,
it seems to me.
-Byron Hoot
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Sunday, May 11, 2025
Some Music
Moon happened to listen
as I tried to organize my consciousness
while the wind danced
like a whirling dervish
beneath the aleppo pine
Yesterday was like a movie
without end
bits of information
scattering across space-time
then there was love
like a gathering,
making shape out of chaos
into something like a moonstone,
secret and delicate
peach and blue-grey
-Nancy Pontius
Saturday, May 10, 2025
ON HEARTSONGS
Remembering Philip Church & Mattie Stepanek
Thank you Jeni Smith Stepanek for reposting this poem
ON HEARTSONGS
Dedicated to Poet Mattie J. T. Stepanek
PHILIP KENT CHURCH
~
There’s a wondrous place, when seen in context,
Which exists and then passes, before the speaking of a word,
It lies just beyond what’s occurred, and what happens next,
And if one listens carefully – it’s where ‘heartsongs’ are heard.
The notions of past and future are merely what we insist,
Both the last moment and the next are beyond our affect,
The truth is, this moment is the only time we actually exist.
And only have the here and now where we can have effect.
Vain-glorious pursuits can become so self-defeating.
When a heart’s songs are recorded, be wise as sages,
Bearing in mind - both riches and fame are fleeting.
Heartsongs must be inscribed to stand the test of ages.
Be still and listen in your heart for the echo from above,
Listening close in a peaceful moment of no fear or panic,
You can hear the heartsongs - recognized for their love,
And join the ranks of ‘peace-makers’ –
Like MATTIE STEPANEK!
https://www.facebook.com/Philip-Kent-Church-1409887615889348/
Thursday, May 8, 2025
On a Curve
Once and only once, on a road I
drive with a certain frequency,
and I am surprised that the coincidence
has not repeated but what do I know,
a beautiful woman sat on the steps
of a porch in need of paint, her long
legs almost reaching the sidewalk,
a rendition of Rodin’s The Thinker,
relaxed, the house on a curve close
to the road beside a bar where it’s said
David Allen Coe once played. Her beauty
in sharp contrast to everything around.
Her presence, her beauty,
ordered that place and time,
embedded the moment in me
like a glimpse into eternity.
Maybe I didn’t know how great the contrast
was, her dreams of leaving or staying
in a different way, the grace that emanated
from the moment I passed by and she
caught my eye, she neither young nor
old the way beauty sometimes teeters
in time. Yesterday, I passed that curve,
that house, that bar, that porch empty.
-Byron Hoot



















