
On downs’ the holler,
Back up the hill
They says’ there’s a man
A man and a still
A man Unspoken for many ‘ayear
They say he’s a grieving his wife,
His young wife so dear.
He now lives him alone
No one to bother
No one bothers him.
Not much known of him
A grieving and a grieving
A solo man’s way
O’ keeping to himself
They say
His name was Nick
Orphaned as a child
He lived life a long while
Always up in them hills
Nowhere near
For some forty odd year
Just him without wife
Just a dog named Panner
A hermit for life
A man, dog and still
Some thought were mad
Some thought mean
Just a lonely quiet fella
Not one has idear
What the man
The hermit
Had suffered and seen.
Wit his wife departed,
Just a dog, shack and still
Dog died,
Nick’s life became that more unreal
He went down the mountain
Retrieved a pup from a box
Took him home
To no wife
To live a hermit’s life
Probably drank himself silly
Maby not
Missing his wife
Who knows his suffering,
Suffering for life
No reason for living
‘Cept the dog,
The mountain,
The memories
Of life.
His dog may be a barking
The grieving man’s song
They buried him yesterdie’
Few words were said
For few knew him
The hermit passed
As did his wife before
Both dead in their grave
Some folks took a pity
A’ Burying him nat day.
If you have a crossing
On the Appalachian Trail
Just east of Damascus
Nick Grindstaff lies there,
just pause,
About thirty feet North of the Trail
Give a shout “howdy!”
Perhaps leave a prayer.
His grave’s up there
Right where he’s from
A hundred years hence
Up along the hill some
Near’s a broken down still
Save’ a dog laid out asides
An old man’s grave
Of late, towns folk gathered
To pay their respect
To the fella known as the hermit
They’s hung a crooked sign
With these words etched
In chimney stone
“Lived alone, Died alone”
Here lies
Nick Grindstaff
The Tomb of the Hermit
*In Memory of Nick Grindstaff, the hermit, 12/26/1851 - 7/22/1923
“Tomb of the Hermit” song recorded by Harlan White, 1977; Re-recorded by Kevin Tenbrunsel; Poem by Tenbrunsel, 2023
‘
tom tenbrunsel
Carl Sandburg Writer 2023
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