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Life on the Deckle Edge

Poetry Friday - a Wave from the Road, Holding a Lamp...

Robyn with "Wattson" in 2019

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  

 

Just a wave this week, as I'm on the way to my annual week of author visits in schools in North Georgia, as part of Cobb EMC & Gas South's Literacy Week.  The picture above is from our last time all in-person-like, in 2019.  (Some authors have always presented virtually, but most of us travel from school to school.)  Last year, it was all virtual - a challenge, but we did it!  Though that was interrupted by severe storms which wiped out power across counties for days, so that "week" stretched into November, too.  

 

This year, most of us are in-person, but there are several who will present virtually as well.  It's always a blast, and always completely exhausting. I look forward to sharing the poetry love with hundreds of kids. Or more - I'm not even sure of the exact counts this year on my schedule!

 

In honor of the vital work our energy companies and co-ops do to keep our lights on and our heat going in the winter, here's a poem by Emily Dickinson for the week:

 

The Poets light but Lamps — (930)

 

by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)


The Poets light but Lamps —
Themselves — go out —
The Wicks they stimulate
If vital Light

 

Inhere as do the Suns —
Each Age a Lens
Disseminating their
Circumference —

 

(Remembering two giants of children's literature whose lights now shine through their many works and the people who loved them - Gary Paulson and Jerry Pinkney.)

 

Here's to letting your own light shine....

There is always something bright and beautiful over at Jama's Alphabet Soup - head over for the Round-up.  She & Mr. C. have pretty pumpkin cookies....

(& Let me go ahead and wish you a Happy HALLOWEEEEN - I'll be back in touch after that!)

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Poetry Friday - Go See Bridget & Discover the 10 10 Anthology!

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!  I am covered up over here this week, but please do pay an aTENtive call to Bridget at wee words for wee ones, and learn all about the hot-off-the-press 10 10 Anthology!  (I'm honored to have a poem in it myself.) :0)

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Poetry Friday - Squirrel Update, Morning Glories, and Haikupedia...

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!

Just a couple of nice surprises this week, and another recent one.  I'm finding I appreciate those more and more….

 

First, the pictures.

 

Out of the blue I received an update on that baby squirrel I rescued a few weeks back.  (I blogged about that here.)  The wildlife rehabilitator who took the wee one on for the long term texted me this adorable picture.  And though I initially thought it was a 'he' – I was evidently wrong.  It's a SHE.  Here's what the rehabilitator wrote:

 

She is doing really well, no injuries - she just needs to be bigger.  Maybe a month and she will be released if it's warm out, but she is sweet.  I named her Robin.  It's funny because her adopted brothers are Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Owl, and Roo, so Christopher "Robin" just worked.  Thanks for saving her.

 

Her unexpected update made my heart happy.

 

Another more subtle surprise recently is that the  rambling morning glory vine that used to confine itself to the back fence has journeyed to the side deck stairs and covered the wonky gate as well.  When we had two beautiful red hibiscus blooms this week, I decided to take a phone picture and also discovered the gentle purple flowers photobombing the larger plant.   If a plant can be effusive, that describes the morning glory vine here lately.

 

Finally, a surprise from a couple of months ago.  I was thrilled to open an email and discover an invitation to submit a bio and picture for The Haikupedia project over at The Haiku Foundation.

 

Haiku poet and editor Tzetzka Ilieva has been helping with this massive undertaking and explains it this way:  "The objective of this enormous project, initiated by Charles Trumbull and other members of The Haiku Foundation, is to create an online encyclopedia of everything about haiku." 

 

I had heard about it and knew that noted poet, editor, publisher, and haiku historian Charles Trumbull was at the helm.  I was thrilled years ago when he was still editor at Modern Haiku and he accepted some of my work, along with offering an encouraging word or two, which I greatly appreciated.

 

Here's a one-line haiku of mine from Modern Haiku just a few years back:

 

 

one door closes morning glories

 

 

 ©Robyn Hood Black.  Modern Haiku, Vol. 49.1, Winter-Spring 2018

 

 

You can learn more about Haikupedia here.

And here's my page there; I'm thrilled to be included.  [Also, very grateful to the wicked camera skills of Ginnie Hinkle, my son's girlfriend, for the new head shots!]

 

 

Here's hoping any surprises coming your way this week are pleasant ones. For inspiring poetic surprises, be sure to visit our amazing Irene, rounding up Poetry Friday for us at Live Your Poem.  Thanks, Irene!

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