Iron ore, steel, and old magic,
The mountain called to me
And I came humbly searching
For what I did not know,
Until at last I stood at your peak,
In awe of the beauty before me.
I arrived here, my heart broken,
My spirit defiant.
Knowing without knowing
You held the key.
A baptism in your red clay,
Bringing a hallelujah to my lips
As I found love and discovered myself
On Red Mountain.
A very old postcard of Birmingham’s giant sculpture, Vulcan, the god of industry, that sits above our home on Red Mountain. It was sent to my mother by my aunt when they were young. 1940s?
*I live atop Red Mountain in Birmingham, Alabama, a mountain rich in the iron ore that ‘The Magic City’s” steel industry was built upon. I truly did find love here…and myself.
The View from Here 