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Life on the Deckle Edge

Poetry Friday - Helene Interruption....

Greetings as I post this late Thursday eve; I was SO planning on having a real post this week.  Alas, the pup (well, almost 15 months old now) had some complications after neutering last week that still require lots of TLC and another week in a cone, and then Helene came on the scene.  All my family as well as some friends (including our Jan!) are in Florida.  It's been a busy day of checking in.

And here in the lower Appalachians, we've had a stalled front that was already causing excessive rain, and which then tapped into the Gulf energy and sucked it up like a straw.  Rivers are already exceeding their banks. Our son and future daughter-in-law came down from the higher hills north of Asheville to ride this out with us here in the SC Upstate. So we're all under Tropical Storm Warnings (!) and Flood Warnings.  Schools in areas around us in Georgia, SC, and NC are closed. 

Not sure we'll have power into tomorrow, so let me send wishes for safety to all, and you'll find the Roundup this week with our wonderful Irene.  (Here's hoping the storm is not causing too much trouble in Alabama.)  She's got a peek into a new book she and Charles are launching next week, THE MISTAKES THAT MADE US.

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Poetry Friday - Go See Linda B., Welcoming Fall....

Happy Poetry Friday - I've had my hands full with caring for Rookie, who had the dreaded neuter surgery on Wednesday.  (Vets recommend waiting until dogs are older now, unlike the way it was last time we had male pups. It's better to wait until their skeletons have fully developed.  But I'm discovering it's rougher on THEM - even though it's the responsible and right thing to do, of course.) But Linda Baie's hands have been busy crafting a beautiful poem welcoming Fall, and a lovely host post.  Check it out here at TeacherDance.

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Poetry Friday - A Spring 2025 Anthology Shout-out

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers! I don't have a poem this week, but I have the gorgeous cover of a new book of poems coming in the Spring from Candlewick.  IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY: POEMS OF POSSIBILITY is a project that began to bloom from "poetic forever friends" (and I&C Construction Company duo) Irene Latham and Charles Waters several years ago.  It features uplifting collage and painted mosaic illustrations by Olivia Sua.  (Click here for her website.)

 

I'm honored to have a poem in this collection, and can't wait to see this beautiful book!

 

I'm also looking forward to reading all the poems. Here's the list of the 31 poets:

 

Lacresha Berry * Robyn Hood Black * JaNay Brown-Wood * Joseph Bruchac * Siv Cedering * Emily Dickinson * Rebecca Kai Dotlich * Nikki Grimes * Jolene Gutiérrez * Georgia Heard * Anna Grossnickle Hines * Irene Latham * Renée M. LaTulippe * Nancy Tupper Ling * Sylvia Liu * Rebekah Lowell * Vikram Madan * Guadalupe García McCall * Lilian Moore * Eric Ode * Bob Raczka * Lisa Rogers * Sydell Rosenberg * Laura Purdie Salas * Janice Scully * Teresa Owens Smith * Gabi Snyder * Sarah Grace Tuttle * Amy Ludwig VanDerwater * Charles Waters * Janet Wong

 

Here's the Amazon link, the Bookshop.org link, and the Barnes & Noble link.  

 

I plan to savor this book when it comes out; it's sure to open the vistas of imagination. And I bet I'll end up giving it as a gift a LOT.

 

Congratulations to Irene & Charles, and to Olivia Sua, and all the Candlewick team.  If we've waited a several years, I guess we can wait a few more months!  It comes out March 1, 2025.

 

Speaking of someone who ignites imaginations, please soar over to My Juicy Little Universe where the amazing Heidi is our host this week.  Thanks, Heidi!

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Poetry Friday - News From Georgia

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers - September has arrived, and in the South, school is in full swing. 

 

And we are already trying to process another school shooting.  Another horrific, senseless tragedy which has cut lives short and traumatized a community. 

 

When we lived in North Georgia, Jeff & I  helped with our kids' church youth group and hosted a weekly high school bible study get-together at our house.  One of our regulars was a fun, accomplished, kind, talented young man, an Eagle Scout, who ended up marrying his high school sweetheart (another fun, accomplished, kind and talented young lady in our group). He is now a teacher.  He teaches at Apalachee High School in Winder.  We've gone a few years without seeing them, but we texted Wednesday night.  He had posted early in the day that he and his students were safe.

 

One of our daughter's former co-workers, a teacher, has a brother who teaches at that school. Our son-in-law works with someone whose good friend is a coach there.  

 

We are all connected.  We are praying for the Apalachee High School community, for the families whose lives have been shattered. 

 

Nothing will change until we stop valuing easy access to military-style assault weapons more than we value the lives of our children. 

 

voting booth

every one

is Superman

 

Robyn Hood Black

 

Here are a couple of links if you'd like to explore more on the subject.   The Brady Campaign has been working on gun violence prevention issues for decades, and here's a link to Sandy Hook Promise

 

The very talented Buffy Silverman has our Roundup this week - thanks, Buffy!

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