I am a poet who has spent most of my life in the Appalachian region of the United States. I was raised on a small tobacco farm in Washington County, Virginia. I currently live in Bristol, Tennessee. In my poetry I try to rejoice the connection of the land and the people in this special place that I call home. At the same time, I try to throw in challenges for us all to work against forces like Mountaintop Removal or urban sprawl, that impede in the land-human connection.