Thank you to Skyler Lambert for his powerful poem “Up to Green River.”
Up to Green River
Skyler Lambert
I learned of a phrase from Greenfield’s history
synonymous with quality or a job well done
Up to Green River
spoken by Western frontier folk who used
John Russell’s high-carbon, steel knives
folks also employed these words when
a John Russell blade was cast deep enough
to conceal its Green River Works marking
when my father thrust his double-edge boot knife into
Earl Morrey’s chest, he went all the way up to Green River
Skyler Lambert (he/him) was raised by strong matriarchs in Virginia and West Virginia. His writing appears in riverSedge, Appalachian Journal, The Fourth River, Appalachia Bare, Meat for Tea, and elsewhere. Skyler’s poems have placed third in the Massachusetts Poetry Olimpics and the Poet’s Seat Poetry Contest. Learn more at https://skylerlambert.com/.