Up to Green River

There’s a frontier phrase synonymous

with quality: “Up to Green River,” used

by colonial explorers and mountaineers

to describe top-of-the-line merchandise.

It derives from Greenfield’s blue-collar history,

when factories produced high-carbon, steel cutlery,

powered by the Green River’s sweeping strength.

There’s another meaning, too,

a frontier colloquialism,

a Green River knife thrust

deeply into an opponent—

a single, fatal blow.

When my father,

a mountaineer, jabbed

his double-edged boot knife

into Earl Morrey’s chest cavity,

he went all the way

up to Green River.