It smells like coal
my mother says
"Reminds me of my childhood,"
she says
Reminds her of family reunions
Ashland, KY
formerly a place of gathering
(It is now a ghost-town
living up to its name)
before reunions moved north
just like the jobs
before Ohio

few things change in West Virginia
We pass by the same roadside bars and saloons
where people who live for distraction

get high.

It smells like coal