Catching up, poem in Polu Texni

During these past couple months of blog silence, I had a few new things published and other things accepted for publication. So in the interest of getting caught up on some of that news, my poem "Ostracizing the Blacksmith" was published in Polu Texni. This is my fourth poem in that zine, and for every one the editor finds a good bit of art to accompany the poem.

This particular poem was inspired by an archaeological article I read at the time about some excavations of an old village showing the blacksmith's house conspicuously separated from the other buildings of the same time period. It reminded me, as well, of a YA fantasy I remember a teacher reading to my class years ago, where the people looked at the wandering metal workers with suspicion.

PS: I found the cover art for that novel. There's a scene fairly early on of the main characters entering the hill country where one is looking for help to rescue his brother. I don't remember all the particulars now (though I did get a chance to reread it as an adult), but there was some sense of shadowy, fear-tinted wonder, that these hills he'd always been afraid of might also prove to be home of the people who would help him. Even if the plot points faded away, that mood stayed with me for years.

Anyone else read the book?