Page 10 - Contrast1963Februaryv1n2
P. 10
Rival Towns
'l"'he covered bridge marked' the dividing line
Beh/een the two t.owns fifty years ago.
Today it st.and s alone, whi Le those it joined--
Or separated, uayoe some woul d sav--
Have di sappeared. But no, that I SV no), quite true.
There's still a little bit oflioodmolll left--
A few old houses, gaunt and needing x/aint,
A little like the people living there.
The color in their lives is long since gone,
But still they cling to \>/hat remains. Per hap B
l'hey know th£.t, when they Ir e gone t.he re I 11 be no more
To make the place a tOi'm. Ten years frolJl nO\'I,
Hoodmont "/ill only be a name upon
The sign down at the highway--Il~ioodLlont, 2,11
And "1'i11 stonvi 11e, 4, miles"--a sign that points
To nowhere- . f·,o.ybe people passing throut,:;h
\iill ask, lI;ihere's that?1I \lell, I/oodmont's over there,
And Till stonville was further up the road,
Across the bridge. The people down in.loodmont,
Remembering ",hen they both "lere thriving t.cwns ,
ll,iight even sr.lile a bit, though \'listfully,
To recollect the rivalry bet.ween
1'he two in earlier years. And one or two
If;ight chance t.o mention "Pinhookn nO\'I and t.hen+-
'rhat IS t-Jl1at t"ey called it fifty years ago,
And "Pinhookll me.nu;;ed to reciprocate
By dubbing ~Iood;;lont "~labt.o\'m." ;,iell, you might
Say vloodLlont finally came out on top.
Today there I s little trace that T:i.llstonville
Vias ever there at all. A gho at t own 7 Ho,
You'd hal'dly even find a ghost t.hs rc now.
110 one to recollect the rivalry;
Ho s~ick or stone of any house or :..to.::e;
The church burned many years ago--O..lt yet
A part of Tillstoneville \'1i11 still r ci.r.i.n
Long after \Ioodmont fades from memory.
Turn off the road e. ];alf-ulile past the bric.[;e,
I.nd go along the narrO\,f, tree-lined p at.h
To find the one thin~ iioodmont doesn I t have
To write her n~e sometime on someone1s mind.
A fe\,f rods on this pa.th Nill bring you to
An acre, gro\'m with \'/eeks--stop here a bit,
tnd meet the citizens of Tillstonville•
