Greetings, Poetry Lovers! Happy Valentine's Day. I'm delighted to share the love today... for a brand new poetry collection from the I&C Construction Company, better known as Irene Latham and Charles Waters. IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY - Poems of Possibility officially blooms on March 4, but I received a contributor's copy this week. Squee! This new volume from Candlewick Press offers 31 poems (all beginning with the word 'if') celebrating possibility, soaring on the wings of imagination and hope. (See the publisher's page and purchasing links here.) Colorful cut-paper illustrations by Olivia Sua are full of heart and bring the words to life.
I don't know about you, but I can sure use an anthology like this about now. The collection celebrates possibility in all its beautiful colors, with diversity among poets and in the words and heart-warming images. The book's title comes from the title of a wonderful poem by award-winning poet and writer Lisa Rogers. (And it makes me wonder, what would YOUR best day include? Hmmm....)
Irene and Charles have included poems by several familiar Poetry Friday folks, as well as some classic poems and works by superstars Joseph Bruchac, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Georgia Heard, Nikki Grimes, and Janet Wong, among others (see above). I'm delighted to have a short poem, "A Glimmer of Peace," in the last section, "Anything is Possible." I'll share it in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, here's just a morsel or two from the book to whet your appetite.
In "What Kind of Word is If?" Georgia Heard begins:
If is a wise word,
a wishing word,
a winged word
that flies in the blue
sky of hope.
I didn't add them up, but the number of poems in this book (including mine) which feature birds, wings, and flight would be a high percentage!
It would very hard to pick favorites, but some of the poems which particularly sparked magic for me include Sarah Grace Tuttle's "The Rock," Gabi Snyder's "Blue Bike," and Guadalupe García McCall's "If I Were a Bookworm." BUT - they're all wonderful. As Irene and Charles write, "Every child has spent minutes, days, years in the land of "if."
(And many of us have never quite migrated from there!)
An Emily Dickinson poem is included in "The Power of You" section, and I think its spirit pulses from cover to cover of this anthology.
If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching
Or cool one Pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.
Amen, Emily, and thanks to Charles and Irene (and Olivia Sua and the Candlewick team) for offering this gift to the world. It's been many years in the making, but the timing seems perfect.
But wait - there's more! The Writing Barn, along with Irene and Charles, are hosting a free poetry reading with 17 poets from the book in celebration of Read Across America Day. Registration info and details can be found here.
For lots of poetry love this week, head over to TeacherDance, where our amazing and generous Linda has the Roundup. Happy Heart Day, Linda!
