Mountain Midwife
"Orelena's" 100th Birthday Wish

(Groundhog Mountain: Floyd Co., VA: June 22, 1937)

Published in Beacon, Fall 2000
Published in The Poet's Domain, 2005 Edition
Published in Skipping Stones, 2005 Edition
Published in Ripples, 2007 Edition

Copyright © 2000, 2007
Jason Lester Atkins
985 Fleet Drive, #347
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
All Rights Reserved.


Orelena's Cabin Each morning I awake
on this mountain,
discovering the new sun
flashing into the valley,
showering diamonds
in the fog,
lighting up
a jeweled promised land,
just for me.

Angels Some bright morning
I want to enter death,
sailing on a sunbeam,
wearing my best blue dress,
with my eyes wide open
in welcome,
ready to hear
the voices
of my waiting children,
introducing me
to God.




Some Information About the Above Poem

"Orelena Hawks-Puckett" - Lived in Floyd Co., VA at Groundhog Mtn. - (1837 to 1939) Couldn't find her grave or known relatives - but her cabin & barn still stands. Orelena had 24 children. None lived beyond 6 months. She buried them on a pasture hillside to see their field stone white markers each morning. (Jason Lester Atkins- October 8, 1998.)

Orelena Hawks-Puckett (1837-1939), a midwife who lived to be 102 years old and who delivered over 1,000 babies is the only person to have a picture on a historical marker on the entire Blue Ridge Parkway. (Jason Lester Atkins - Fall, 2000.)

Orelena had a deep faith and reverence for God. Each time Orelena delivered a baby, immediately after it started breathing she would whisper in its ear this one sentence, "Quick before you forget, tell me where you came from." Only God knows whether or not she ever received an answer. (Jason Lester Atkins - August 12, 2001.)


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