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Robyn Hood Black - children's author, poet, artist

Life on the Deckle Edge

Poetry Friday - Moving Boxes ....

January 19, 2023
Tags: -Poetry Friday, Poem Swap, moving boxes poem

Quick (huff)  Greetings (puff) from the Land of Perpetual Movers...  The low-down:  We're getting there, whirlwinds and all.  Got moved into a temporary apartment (still in Beaufort) so we could get our house here decluttered and listed to sell.  Met with the realtors Wednesday and are optimistic - almost 1000 views on Zillow in the first day (& seven showings).  Beaufort is still a pretty hot market; I wanted to list our downtown cottage while the inventory is so low right now! 

 

Still making several quick and crazy across-the-state trips taking things to our Upstate abode, and popping in on the basement renovation there. More than once I've woken up in the middle of the night and looked around in the dimness wondering, where am I?  What city?  What room?! 

 

My hubby Jeff will be starting his new job at the end of February, and I'll follow with movers and what's left of our stuff in mid-March after the reno is all done.  We're both feeling aches in muscles we didn't know we had, but we are deeply grateful for these adventures and for having a safe place to rest our heads at night, especially in winter.

 

I've been to Staples and Lowe's a thousand times in recent weeks.  Here's a little ditty of an ode about those handy kraft cardboard wonders by Bankers Box®.

 

 

 

Bankers Boxes

 

 

Tear off the lid,

 

set aside.

 

Un-flatten the rest and peer inside.

 

Push (1) on through,

 

then (2) and (3)

 

Pull (1) back down - 

 

Oh - now I see....

 

A krafty rectangle in three dimensions

 

ready for all your packing intentions.

 

Wait!  The lid - fold the edges and notch.

 

Match the handle slots; ignore your watch,

 

because

 

Moving. 

 

     Takes. 

 

        Forever....

 

©Robyn Hood Black

 

 

While the smooth cardboard of dozens and dozens of moving boxes might seem monotonous, our friend and my Winter Poem Swap partner Patricia has just returned home to the desert and is thinking about the NEVERMORES group's prompt, texture. And she graciously included my Poem Swap poem and gifties to her, which arrived before Christmas but AFTER she left for her trip.  (Sorry, Patricia!) Here's her post. 

 

Marcie is kindly hosting the Roundup this week here. 

 

Wishing you smooth moves, whether from one home to another this year or just from your computer to the kettle to make a cuppa tea!

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Poetry Friday - Pointing Toward Catherine at Reading to the Core!

January 6, 2023

Happy New Year! 
In the throes of our move to an apartment before our big move in a couple of months, so I don't know which way is up or what day it is at the moment. (Also, about to make our fourth weekend road trip in as many weeks for a family holiday gathering.). But start your poetry year off right with Catherine at Reading to the Core, where you'll find the year's first Roundup! Thanks, Catherine. 
https://readingtothecore.com/2023/01/05/happy-new-year-the-roundup-is-here/

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Poetry Friday - My PERFECT Poem Swap Gifts from Patricia J. Franz

December 15, 2022
Tags: - poetry, -Poetry Friday, Poem Swap, Patricia J. Franz

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!

 

I received the most wonderful gift in the mail yesterday – my poem swap goodies from this year's swap partner, Patricia J. Franz.  (The Winter Poem Swap is organized by the amazing Tabatha Yeatts, whose blog is here.  You can learn more about Patricia here.)

 

Full disclosure – I am so overextended this year that I JUST mailed Patricia her poem and gifties from me yesterday, too. (Insert face-slap emoji here.) No excuses, but an explanation – I/we recently made a crazy decision to put our house on the market sooner rather than later, so we are temporarily moving to an apartment here next week. That way, we can show the house without all – cough-cough – my, um, artistic piles o' stuff, and without having to manage a wee doggie, etc., etc.  Also, if it sells quickly as we hope, then we'll have a place to live while Jeff finishes his job here before starting his new one in the Upstate. I mean, moving is so easy and fun that everyone should do it twice for each move, right? 

 

So it was an especially perfect treat to open Patricia's package and slow down and savor her gifts.  She included some beautiful, fancy sticky notes – how could she know I LIVE by sticky notes?! – and the most charming tiny replica music box that plays "Hey Jude" when you turn its handle.  She explained in her lovely note that the song came to her while working on my poem, and then she said, "the universe made a house call, as I found this in the gift shop at the Whitney Museum in NYC."  I was floored!  How special, and you bet it will have an honored place in my new studio (being formed as we speak in a basement renovation at our Upstate house that we'll move to in a couple-few months.)

 

As for the poem Patricia sent, I was moved to tears upon reading it.  First, she tackled a ghazal, though she added, "Truth be told, I'm certain this is not a true ghazal!  In my  mind, I was channeling your artful spirit – letting the poetic form become what it needed to contain the words."

 

You see, she wrote a poem about… artsyletters! No one has ever written a poem about my art endeavors before, not even me.  Talk about affirmation, and with my favorite kind of writing – poetry!

Not to mention that the presentation – printed to look it's on faded, foxed, glorious old paper, and with some of my items – absolutely speaks my aesthetic language.  What a gift, and to think we've never met in person before.  But that's the magic of Poetry Friday, isn't it?

 

I'm beyond delighted to share:

 

 

artsyletters:  a  ghazal

 

what sound speaks?  What reaches your ear?

asking to be transformed – the trinket, the trifle

 

finger a curl of your hair, pause to hear

art unaware, setting free the trinket, the trifle

will you be jeweled? Beheld by a book?

re-membered eternal, no trinket or trifle

 

work of your hands, heart's possibility

becomes twinkle delightful – the trinket, the trifle

 

©Patricia J. Franz

 

This was just what I needed but didn't know I needed, grounding my art adventures as I'm trying to keep them all together during this bit of transition and chaos.  I'm so excited to hang up this poem in my studio space when it's finished, a heart-sent gift from a poet friend. It's just perfect as I reflect on this 10th anniversary year of starting my art business and Etsy shop and anticipating its landing, finally, in a perfect and personal home space.  Thank you, Patricia!

 

The perfect place for poetry today is with Karen Edmisten, who is rounding up Poetry Friday this week.  Thank you, Karen! And Happy Holiday blessings to all; I'll be taking a wee break as we work on the move stuff and also travel - multiple times - to see family over a stretched-out holiday season.  Extra prayers for those missing loved ones this season, and those who don't have homes to move to or from this winter. See you in January!

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Poety Friday - WATCH Out- It's a New Pomelo Poetry Book!

December 8, 2022
Tags: Pomelo Books, Robyn Hood Black, What We Wear, Watch poem, Timekeeping poem

 

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers! Just in time for holiday gifting, there's a brand new book from Pomelo Books, THINGS WE WEAR. Part of the "THINGS WE" series, this poetry collection features poems created and honed as part of the wonderful online Anthology workshops offered by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, the FORCES behind all things Pomelo.

 

I've had the good fortune to participate in a couple of these workshops, along with several Poetry Friday regulars and new faces and voices, too!

 

The books in this series (THINGS WE DO,THINGS WE EAT, and THINGS WE FEEL) contain a poem for each letter of the alphabet.  Proceeds from book sales go to the IBBY Children in Crisis Fund, another reason to add these to your gift lists for the youngest readers and listeners.

 

THINGS WE WEAR, with poems by 26 authors, features some expected topics, such as "Pajamas" for P and "Dress" for D.  But how about "Earmuffs" for E, "Kippah" for K, and "Yukata" for Y?  Learn more about this collection and find ordering info here. 

 

My poem is about one of my favorite things, a watch!  I've always worn one myself (& got a new one from my hubby last Christmas).  I'm somewhat obsessed with old watch parts – the older the better – and have enjoyed using them in artsyletters creations.  I don't have a lot of timepiece-parts-laced collages and such in my Etsy shop at the moment, but You Just Wait (another terrific Pomelo title): after we move early next year and I get to embrace a new studio space in our house, I'll have lots of room for lots of art projects.  And, hopefully, more TIME for making since I'll have the space part worked out!

 

Here's my poem, pictured above in the fun poem card created by Sylvia and Janet, and pictured below that, embellished with vintage watch parts because I couldn't help myself.

 

WATCH

 

Skinny hands

move on its face

second by second – tick, tick.

 

A clock with a band

always in place

never too slow or too quick, quick.

 

There isn't a buzz

a beep or a chime

but watching my watch –

I can tell time!

 

©Robyn Hood Black

 

 

Our multi-talented Michelle Kogan has this week's Roundup.  So glance at your watch later, and for now go enjoy some great poetry!

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Poetry Friday - Emily Dickinson's "Winter is Good"

December 1, 2022
Tags: - poetry, -Poetry Friday, Emily Dickinson, artsyletters, winter poem
New ornament featuring a vintage Emily Dickinson postage stamp- listing is here in my Etsy shop! (I have William Shakespeare, too. ;0) )

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  I hope you had a good Thanksgiving weekend last week, wherever you were.  Prayers for all with an empty chair at the holidays this year.

 

Over here  on the South Carolina Coast, Friday morning temps will be in the 40s, which is chilly for us. (Then we'll warm back up.)  But pictures of growing piles of snow from the Northwest to the Plains are something else altogether, like the pictures posted online recently by our own Amy Ludwig VanDerwater up in New York state. 

 

So here's a little poem by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) for the new season.  (Love the last line... we were happy to say goodbye to the hurricane season, by the way, on Wednesday!)

 

 

Winter is good - his Hoar Delights (1316)


Emily Dickinson 

Winter is good - his Hoar Delights
Italic flavor yield -
To Intellects inebriate
With Summer, or the World -

Generic as a Quarry
And hearty - as a Rose -
Invited with asperity
But welcome when he goes.

 

Happy December! 

 

Grab your snowshoes and shuffle on over to see our lovely Catherine at Reading to the Core for this week's Roundup!

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Poetry Friday - Vowel Poetry Fun from Jonathan Swift & artsyletters

November 17, 2022
Tags: -Poetry Friday, Poetry, artsyletters, Jonathan Swift, vowel poem, vowel riddle
A mini shadow box collage featuring Jonathan Swift's "On the Vowels" riddle-poem, along with vintage lace, vintage copper leaf stampings, and vintage brass letters. (Click to see in my Etsy shop.)

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!

 

The poem I'm sharing this week is an offering of levity, with so much going on in the world this month.  From a 19th-Century copy of CROWN JEWELS (or Gems of Literature, Art, and Music ...) compiled by Henry Davenport Norhtrop and published by Pennsylvania Publishing Company in 1887, I plucked this wee riddle poem by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), then gave it the artsyletters mini collage treatment.

 

On the Vowels

 

by Jonathan Swift

 

We are little airy creatures,

All of different voice and features:

One of us in glass is set,

One of us you'll find in jet;

T'other you may see in tin,

And the fourth a box within;

If the fifth you should pursue,

It can never fly from you.

 

I thought those "little airy creatures" would pair well with some old lace! Though the blocky midcentury brass letters are anything but airy, I suppose - so here's to a little contrast!

 

If you are hungry for more vowels, and consonants, then of COURSE you must make your way to Jama's Alphabet Soup, where our beautiful & talented letter-wrangling host has this week's Roundup! 

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Poetry Friday - Melissa Whiteford St. Clair - DAR Award

November 8, 2022
Tags: - poetry, -Poetry Friday, Melissa Whiteford St Clair
Melissa Whiteford St. Clair and her winning photograph.

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  I'm happy to introduce you to a person and a poem on this Veterans Day.  Last weekend I was walking downtown and heard my name called from across the street.  A familiar face and friendly wave were just outside the Beaufort Art Association gallery. I was trying to sort it out; it looked like Melissa St. Clair, but wasn't she in a different part of the state now?  She and her husband had attended the same church as Jeff and I, though we haven't been many times since the pandemic.  That, plus their move, is probably why I didn't know about the interesting things she's been up to in the last couple of years.

 

Melissa was in town because last year, she had the winning photo in a contest, and it is on display at the art association gallery for the month of November.  Her photo of the Beaufort National Cemetery with Wreaths Across America was selected by the South Carolina Society of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) "Rise and Shine: What American Means To Me" Committee. Entries could include a caption or a short paragraph up to 100 words and were judged on interpretation of theme, creativity, and overall impression by a panel of two DAR Members and one non-DAR Member.

 

Here is the accompanying poem:

 

   What America Means to Me

 

Democracy

Hypocrisy

Boiling Points

Melting Pot

 

Juxtapositions

Traditions

Assimilate

Don't Congregate

Unity 

Impunity

 

Unrest

Blessed

Dressing graves

Heroes n'er forget

 

©Melissa Whiteford St. Clair

 

 

Sponsored by the Thomas Heyward Jr. Chapter in Beaufort, SC, St. Clair was presented with the award certificate by Mrs. Gail LaGrone Newton, State Americanism Chair and current President of the Beaufort [SC] Chapter at the 2022 SC DAR State Conference.

 

"I am honored to share this photograph and companion poem display with patrons of the Beaufort Art Association Gallery, especially during the month of November when we set aside a day, Veterans Day, to thank our active duty and retired servicemembers and leading up to the annual Wreaths Across America Day in December," she said. The full press release about the award can be found here. 

Melissa is no stranger to a life of service.  She married her high school sweetheart, who joined the military.  They traveled the next 30 years wherever the US Marine Corps sent them.

 

I discovered that in addition to making an appearance at the gallery for our November First Friday celebration, Melissa also attended a poetry workshop at the Pat Conroy Literary Center while she was in the neighborhood. She published a collection of poetry last year called WHITE GIRL HOMEWORK.  (You can find it on Amazon here.) I had no idea! 

 

She explains that the rise of social injustic in the United States deeply affected her emotionally, and she began a journey that led her to found White Girl Advocacy, LLC.  (Click here to learn more.) The organization's purpose is to "share history lessons plus creative arts for white women who want to be better friends, neighbors, colleagues, and community-builders - better humans."  She launched her chapbook, the full title of which is White Girl Home Work A Collection of Poems Sparked by One White Woman's Journey on the Matter of Race, on Harriet Tubman Day, March 10, in 2021.

 

Many thanks to Melissa for sharing her work with us today!  

 

The talented and wonderful Buffy Silverman has our Roundup this week; enjoy all the offerings.  And thank a veteran! 

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Poetry Friday - Recent Haiku

November 3, 2022
Tags: - poetry, -Poetry Friday, -haiku, Frogpond, bottle rockets haiku, Mother and child haiku, mother and baby poem, mother and baby haiku

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  I've missed everyone the last week or two as I was traveling for my annual (completely crazy) week of author school visits as part of Cobb EMC and Gas South Literacy Week north of Atlanta.  Always great to catch up with folks there, and the dozen or more of us authors end up seeing between 20,000 and 30,000 kids in those five days.  I had 22 presentations between Monday and Friday.  Whew! But thrilled to share the poetry love. 

 

Today I'm sharing a couple of recently published haiku.  I couldn't help featuring the adorable picture of my daughter, Morgan, and their precious little one, Sawyer. He made an awfully cute pumpkin for Halloween. The first poem was written when I was with them this summer, helping out during his first month.

 

 

 

new mother's whisper

the strength

of spidersilk

 

Frogpond, Vol. 45:3, Autumn 2022

 

 

 

And this one, well - I guess it speaks for itself. 

 

 

resurrection fern

my long list

of shortcomings

 

bottle rockets #47, Vol. 20, No. 1 (August 2022)

 

 

Poems ©Robyn Hood Black.  All rights reserved.

 

 

I hope your November is off to a good start.  The ever-amazing Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe is hosting Poetry Friday this week. Thank you, Heidi!

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Poetry Friday - Haiku Stones in an Alabama Japanese Garden

October 13, 2022
Tags: -Poetry Friday, -haiku, Robyn Hood Black, Terri L. French, North Alabama Japanese Garden, haiku path, haiku stones, Peggy Bilbro
(Top) My haiku on a garden stone; (Bottom) Peggy Bilbro and Terri French speak at the Haiku Path dedication.

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers! A fun way to enjoy haiku today....

 

Over at Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, Alabama, visitors to the Japanese Garden can now meander down a haiku path consisting of 24 haiku stones.  These feature poems mostly by contemporary haiku poets, with a couple of Basho stones and an Issa offering in the collection. The new path was launched at the Autumn Japan celebration at the beginning of this month.

 

The creative force behind the Haiku Path is Terri L. French, award-winning haiku poet extraordinaire who has also shared her leadership skills in the Haiku Society of America and The Haiku Foundation, as well as editorially in journals and in her own varied publishing endeavors.  (Learn more about Terri here.)  Also sharing time and talents for this beautiful adventure has been fellow fine poet Peggy Bilbro. (Click here for a lovely haibun of Peggy's and a brief bio.)

 

"The haiku were chosen to fit the aesthetics of the garden and the area," explains Terri. "They were placed in the ground on a path that goes behind and around the tea house."

 

Terri and Peggy chose the haiku.

 

"Redstone Federal Credit Union sponsored us and paid for all of the stones to be made by local artist, Zan Edmonds,"  Terri says.  "If we get more money, we may add more stones later."

 

You can click the photo above to see the Facebook post Terri shared, with more pictures of the festival and a few more of the stones.  

 

I'm thrilled that one of my poems was accepted for the path.

 

 

open gate

the way

my mind wanders

 

 

©Robyn Hood Black

First published in Frogpond, Vol. 41:3, Fall 2018

 

If your mind wants to wander myriad poetry paths today, head on over to see Matt Forrest Essenwine, who always has lots going on and has our Roundup this week!  Also, remember to check in on Bridget's "10.10 Poetry Anthology First Anniversary Poet Palooza" at Wee Words for Wee Ones, where you can enjoy daily bite-size introductions to many of the poets!  I'm honored to be included next week.  [NOTE: My blog will be taking a mini-Fall-break as I soon travel to North Georgia for my annual week of school author visits as part of Cobb County EMC-Gas South's Literacy Week, and as I get artsyletters geared up for the holiday craziness that usually ensues right after October!  See you back here in a couple of weeks.)

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Poetry Friday - WHAT IS A FRIEND?

October 4, 2022
Tags: - poetry, -Poetry Friday, Pomelo Books, Robyn Hood Black, friend poems, What is a Friend, friendship poetry

 

Greetings, Poetery Lovers! I'm joining some other Poetry Friday-ers today celebrating the release of WHAT IS A FRIEND? from Pomelo Books. (You know, the powerhouse poetry publishing team of Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong!)  WHAT IS A FRIEND? is the product of their recent Antho 401 class.  [I'm now taking a reprise of their Antho 201 class, which I blogged about a few weeks ago, if you want more info about Pomelo poetry magic.]  As with their other recent books, poems were written in response to photographs of children in a variety of situations.

 

This new book, geared toward ages 8 & up, explores many aspects of friendship. It's a Children's Book Council "Hot Off the Press" selection for October! And, as with the "THINGS WE" series, proceeds from sales are being donated to the IBBY Children in Crisis Fund.

 

Here's my poem:

 

 

PRESENT

 

 

   You didn't say,

          Come on – Cheer up! 

          Everything will be okay.

 

 

   You didn't say,

          I know exactly

          what it's like

          to feel that way.

 

 

   You didn't say

          anything.

 

 

   Just sat with me,

          

 

           and

       that

  meant

       everything.

 

 

 

©Robyn Hood Black.  All rights reserved.

 

When editing this poem, I was attempting to follow Janet's suggestion about changing a line that I originally had right after "Just sat with me,".  I tweaked and tweaked, until the haiku poet in me just struck it out altogether - making for a stronger poem. I'm so glad Janet flagged it in the first place, so I could toss it. 

 

Learn more about WHAT IS A FRIEND? here . Happy Book Birthday, Sylvia & Janet!

 

For more FRIEND-ly posts for Poetry Friday this week, and lots of other poetic treasures, check out the Roundup hosted by Sara Grace Tuttle.  Thanks, Sara Grace!

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