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| 50 Book Pledge | Book #19: Clear Skies, No Wind, 100% Visibility by Théodora Armstrong |
In honour of National Poetry Month, I present “Hope is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
In a special Google Docs demonstration online, you can collaborate on a story with Charles Dickens, Friedrich Nietzsche, William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe.
As you type your text into the demo box, these writers will add little flourishes and quotes to your story.
We created a short story with the help of Dickens and Nietzsche, click on the image embedded above to see the collaboration in action. Who will you write with?
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Coming from Chronicle, March, 2013, is Nobody's Secret. Do you like a mystery? Are you intrigued by Emily Dickinson. Find this work and enjoy!
At fifteen, Emily meets a handsome stranger, a Mr. Nobody, who only days later is discovered dead in her family's pond. With Emily's inquest, she moves through the mystery to understand and honor this man's life. Author Michaela MacColl begins each chapter with excerpts from Emily's own poems. The blending of fiction and fact is engaging in this fast page turner.
"I'm Nobody, Who are You?" Watch for it, rgz!
Nobody’s Secret
A Novel of Intrigue and Romance
by Michaela MacColl
Chronicle Books, March 2013
Once again I have participated in a round of SPARK, which randomly matches artists and writers who exchange inspiration pieces and then produce response pieces over a ten-day period. I always look forward to the challenge and to "meeting" a fellow artiste, and I've found that many of them are writers as well as painters or photographers or sculptors. Some people just gotta express themselves!
This time I was working from two inspirations, really. Recently my dear friend Charles Waters sent me perhaps the best compliment I will ever receive. Charles wrote that he liked my poems in The Poetry Friday Anthology (nice enough in itself!) and then, "I do believe if e.e. cummings and Emily Dickinson had a baby it would be you."
Oh my. If ever there was a compliment worth living up to, that's it. I even began to hope it might somehow actually be true (no offense to my actual earthly parents), and I went and double-checked birth and death dates to see if Emily and Edward might ever have met. (No. Emily died eight years before e.e. was born.) Still, I was wearing Charles's lovely speculation on my head like a crown (that's how good it made me feel) when I received this photo from Jules Rolfe, and so my response poem is all metaphysical and punctuated.
We Be
the grass is Always bluer—
the sky is Always greener—
the view of (Always) what’s to come
is better: finer: cleaner
@round the bend begins #the end—
We cannot hope to see her—
We set our sights, We claim our right
and many hopes to Be her—
Be all, end all #god and fate—
is she sky or grass or sand?
@round the bend We find the Light
if only Loose it from our hand
~Heidi Mordhorst 2012
Many thanks to Jules for her wonderful Nebraska landscape and to Charles for his generous challenge!
The Round-Up today is with Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup--always a tasty smorgasbord of treats. And next week I'll be your host right here; if you're planning to participate in my Solstice-themed edition of Poetry Friday, feel free to send me your links as early as you like!
From cocoon forth a butterfly
As lady from her door
Emerged-a summer afternoon-
Repairing everywhere,
Without design, that I could trace,
Except to stray abroad
On miscellaneous enterprise
The clovers understood.
Her pretty parasol was seen
Contracting in a field
Where men made hay, then struggling hard
With an opposing cloud,
Where parties, phantom as herself,
To Nowhere seemed to go
In purposeless circumference,
As 't were a tropic show.
And notwithstanding bee that worked,
And flower that zealous blew,
This audience of idleness
Disdained them, from the sky,
Till sundown crept, a steady tide,
And men that made the hay,
And afternoon, and butterfly,
Extinguished in its sea.
- by Emily Dickinson
I posted this poem in the morning before venturing outside. Then I saw a butterfly. Then another. And another. By the end of the day, I had seen more butterflies in one day than I had seen all year. This is how my life works. Thank you, beautiful butterflies, for making me smile!
View all posts tagged as Poetry Friday at Bildungsroman.
View the roundup schedule at A Year of Reading.
Learn more about Poetry Friday.
| 50 Book Pledge | Book #23: The Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson |
I present a passage from Candlewick Press‘s A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd.
Nevertheless, the monster said, standing, the roof beams of his grandma’s office seeming to sigh with relief, that is what will happen after the third tale.
“Great,” Conor said. “Another story when there are more important things going on.”
Stories are important, the monster said. They can be more important than anything. If they carry the truth.
“Life writing,” Conor said, sourly, under his breath.
The monster looked surprised. Indeed, it said.
Almost midnight. I sit on the sofa, laptop on my lap. Beside me sprawls a big, beautiful, golden-haired dog. His name is Hucks and he is my best buddy. I catch his eye. "How did it get so late?" I ask him. "How could I leave my blog until the last minute?" I sigh. He sighs. He understands. He's been here with me before.
And then I get an idea. "Hey Hucks, maybe I could write about Emily and Carlo? Even though it's cataloged as fiction, it's still a true story, it's thoroughly researched and beautifully written and illustrated, and it's a wonderful introduction to Emily Dickinson's life and poetry, and it's only two days until National Poetry Month...and it's about a DOG!" He cocks his head at me. I can tell he thinks it's a great idea.
Written by Marty Rhodes Figley and illustrated by Catherine Stock in color-drenched watercolors, Emily and Carlo tells the story of the shy poet and her best friend for 16 years, her "shaggy ally," a huge, floppy, slobbery Newfoundland named Carlo. Featuring excerpts from Emily's poems and letters, it's a book about love and friendship ("I started early, took my dog, / And visited the Sea") and eventually, loss ("Carlo died...Would you instruct me now?). Kirkus Reviews called the book "a pleasing little window into Dickinson's life and an invitation to learn more about the fresh-breathed poet from Amherst."
My own shaggy ally is snoring now. I'll take that as a hint and wrap things up. Hucks and I recommend celebrating National Poetry Month by checking out Emily and Carlo. And we agree with Emily, by the way: The dog is the noblest work of Art.
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 12/5/2011
Blog:
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With Jeanette Winter‘s Biblioburro selected as one of our new 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set, I have had a great time exploring more of her work. One little book that has delighted me is Emily Dickinson’s Letters to the World (Frances Foster Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002)
It tells the story of the poet’s life through her sister, and begins with, “My sister Emily was buried today.” We are shown Emily’s room, and get a glimpse of her reclusive lifestyle – and then, in the course of the up to now rather sad narration, make the wonderful discovery alongside the sister, of the drawers full of poetry that nobody knew about while Emily was alive. Beginning with “This is my letter to the world”, it is a delightful way for young readers to be introduced to her poetry ,both for the poems themselves and their context.
The final two thirds of the book are given over to extracts from Dickinson’s poetry, ending with her sister’s avowal that “the world will read your letter – your poems.” And the whole book is a treat for anyone who loves Jeanette Winter’s illustrations. The poet’s voice is emphasised, with Emily Dickinson in her trademark white dress depicted in some way on almost every page.
Here’s the whole of one of those special poems:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Anastasia Suen at Picture Book of the Day – head on over…
Social Media? No! People Person? Yes!
The Soul Selects Her Own Society
by Emily Dickinson
The soul selects her own society,
Then shuts the door;
On her divine majority
Obtrude no more.
Unmoved, she notes the chariot’s pausing
At her low gate;
Unmoved, an emperor is kneeling
Upon her mat.
I’ve known her from an ample nation
Choose one;
Then close the valves of her attention
Like stone.
The biggest argument I hear against social media is that it is a time drain.
In 1986, Richard B. Sewall talked about his biography of Emily Dickinson. He said she wrote “warm, loving, marvelous letters.” At the time, there were three published volumes of letters, but they represented “only about a tenth of what we know she wrote. She was a people person. Never mind that poem about selecting her own society and shutting the valves of her attention like a stone; her life revolved around people.” (Extraordinary Lives: The Art and Craft of American Biography, edited by William Zinsser. New York: American Heritage, 1986. P. 77)
Other writers of the 18th and 19th century talk about spending an hour or two a day writing letters to keep those connections with people vibrant.
It’s likely that Emily Dickinson would have loved Tweets! Especially because she was an expert in short verse! 140 characters? No problem for ED!
Connecting with People Takes Time
In other words, people connections have always taken large amounts of time for writers. Why do we think it’s any different today? We write in our caves, but in order for our writing to speak to today’s society, we must connect with others: think through ideas and discuss contemporary issues; hook up with those who can put our work in front of others; be bolstered by other writers, even as we encourage; live in the midst of a literary community that is firmly nestled within the very fibers of our nation.
If the recluse poet’s life revolved around people, why do we balk so at social media? It enables a connected life, a life that revolves around people. The medium of letters has changed to blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, but the reason we do these things hasn’t changed. Perhaps the medium also affects how shallow or deep those connections are, but that’s a different issue. Social media is social: people.
The question then becomes this: Do you want to connect with people? Are you a people person?
Are Your Tweets “Warm, loving, marvelous?”
However, social media today is easily misused. If you only think of it as a way of self-promotion, this warping of the purposes of the communication tools we use is self-destructive. It can be a self-absorbed life, which is all about “Me.” I dare you to call most tweets “warm, loving, marvelous.”
Question: I am looking for quotes from other 17th-mid20th century authors/writers/poets in which they discuss the time they spent writing letters. Any ideas?
Rosemary Clement-Moore and I appreciate a lot of the same things: Cary Grant. Word play. The high school years of Buffy Summers. A well-told story, no matter what the form: a novel, a play, a musical, a ballet.
To date, Rosemary has written three novels about Maggie Quinn, a modern-day Nancy Drew who defeats demons while tossing off witty retorts - in other words, a young woman who is quite possibly the offspring of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars. We spoke at length about this series as well as Rosemary's forthcoming stand-alone novel The Splendor Falls.
I had a great deal of fun conducting this interview. How often do chupacabras, Annie Sullivan, and Doctor Who all come up within the same conversation? Not often enough, my friends. Not often enough.
What prompted your first YA novel, Prom Dates From Hell? (Oh, I just said "prompted" out loud - PROM-ted - and realized it was an unintentional pun.) Did you have one of your own in high school? I didn't go to prom. I watched Buffy's instead.
You know what Samuel Johnson said: He who would pun would pick a pocket.
This is why the prom features in so many books and movies: It a single event that focuses all the social aspects -- good, bad and hellish -- of the rest of the school year: the social hierarchy, the fashion police, the kids that drink, the boy/girl drama, the money angst, the putting up a front pressure... all those things that are going on all year sort of get distilled to this one night.
PDFH -- all my books in some ways -- are about power. Do you get yours from inside yourself, from the person you are and the things you believe in? Or do you steal your power by putting down or bullying others. The story started with the question: what if this power struggle had supernatural weapons. (In that way, I guess it is very much a Buffy/Joss Whedon sort of story question.)
I love that your books are infused with humor and supernatural elements. Maggie is both an intrepid girl reporter and a demon slayer - in other words, part Nancy Drew, part Buffy Summers. Which parts of Maggie resemble you?
Maggie gets to say the things I thought -- still think! -- but was too polite to say. I was a quiet girl (which surprises people, I'm sure), but in my head I was very droll, with a strong sense of the ridiculous. Not a surprise, she likes the same books and movies I do. Other than that, I'm afraid that Maggie is most like me in her flaws: she's stubborn and awkward and quick tempered. We're both very loyal to our friends and family, though.
How did Maggie get her name?
Maggie was named long before I had a story for her. She sort of developed over time in my head, and when I came up with the premise for PDFH, I knew she'd be the perfect protagonist. Only I had to take the character back in her own timeline a bit. (Which, yes, means that I know Maggie's future, though events of the books may alter it, like Marty McFly going back in time.)
Her FULL name came as a surprise to me. I didn't realize what it was until I typed it in the scene. Or, I didn't realize it consciously until that point. As writers, sometimes our subconscious is smarter than we are.
Whenever I run into people named Maggie it makes me blink. But it's not like it's an unusual name. There's a professor named Maggie Quinn who I'm sure wonders why her google-hits have gone up in recent years. I think it's funny.
The other thing that Google turns up is a lot of "Sliders" fan fiction. Apparently Maggie/Quinn is a popular pairing.
I loved Sliders. I detested Maggie. She ruined the show. Did you ever watch it? The early seasons were much better than later seasons.
Justin, FYI, is named after a rat in "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." Which seems weird unless you've read the book.
So far, you've written three books about Maggie. How many more books do you have up your sleeve? Was this always planned to be a series?
I always saw Maggie's adventures as a series, a sort of 'monster of the week' but with some deeper mystical elements. The demon in PDFH doesn't have a folklore corollary, but Hell Week and Highway to Hell do.
How did you decide upon the series title Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil?
I can't take credit for Girl vs. Evil, but I LOVE it. My editor and I were tossing ideas back and forth, and it was her suggestion. And it was perfect, because that's the whole concept in a nutshell.
Who is the artist behind the eye-catching book covers?
The covers are by an artist in New Zealand named Craig Phillips. I love his concept of Maggie. She looks so much like the image in my head. (But with better behaved hair.) As someone pointed out, she's attractive, but not supermodel gorgeous. And I love that look in her eye on the Highway to Hell cover. (Though the fuzzy dice are my favorite part.)
Check out the website of Craig Phillips. My favorite pieces other than the the covers of the Maggie Quinn books include a modern-day Emily Dickinson, the authorative cat and the clothed mice, and the reading girl - as well as the mermaid that made me think of Kiba. Back to the interview . . .
In the second Maggie book, Hell Week, sorority row was rocked and wrecked by magic. Did you ever rush or pledge? (I rush a lot, but just around, not to be Greek. I could tell you a story about an audition I had, but that's for another time.)
I was in a sorority in college. I loved my sisters, most of them, anyway, and by no means did I mean to paint an "all sororities are evil" picture. If you find a group where you fit, while being yourself, it can be great fun. That said, it was also my experience that the Greek system tends to reinforce a lot of negative gender issues. In a way, Hell Week tweaks the way sexuality is tied up with status in that system. Though usually it's the girls who get the short end of the stick, so to speak, in that deal. (End of my soapbox!)
Maggie and Lisa go on an unforgettable road trip in the third book, Highway to Hell. It was far more amusing than the time I got stranded overnight and only one person knew my location - the person who made me stranded. Have you had any memorable road trips?
My family did road trip vacations all the time. We had one of those pop-up travel trailers that we pulled behind the car. Those were great trips, and i have fantastic memories of camping with my father. He was big on storytelling, and I get that from him.
College days were full of interesting road trips, but I'm afraid I can't describe much without incriminating myself. But yes, one was a trip to South Padre Island that involved a broken down car, a stolen radio, a horrific sunburn, a broken heart, a trip to Juarez, a worm in the bottom of a bottle, and a Mexican hat dance.
In one of the shows in which I'm currently performing, I have a line that Maggie would appreciate: "You always used to draw pictures of hearses and bleeding babies and mausoleums and rotting corpses and autopsies and voodoo chickens..." at which point another character is supposed to cut me off. If she doesn't, I tack on, "...and chupacabras and..."
Hee! Awesome. The chupacabras don't get enough love.
No, no, they don't. I can thank The X-Files for exposing me to the wacky world of the chupacabra.
I hope Highway to Hell starts a new trend. Instead of vampires, books will be filled with sparkly chupacabras.
I'm involved in three productions right now. The bio at your website reveals that you "worked in theatre for years." Therefore, you must now tell me all about your theatrical experiences and career - or, at least, some favorite roles, and if you are still pursuing such endeavors.
This is funny. My favorite roles all seem to be very physical, and in some cases rather violent! Annie Sullivan from The Miracle Worker, Lili/Katherine from Kiss Me Kate, Vera Claythorne from Ten Little Indians. I think I like to get my aggression out on stage.
These starring roles sound very impressive, but this was South Texas, so... you know. A small pond. My biggest role was as the youth director in a community theatre. I taught classes for kids from kindergarden to high school. Great fodder for books. (Some day I may have to write "Stage Mothers From Hell.") We never had much money for royalties, so I wrote most of the plays we did for class and festivals. That was how I developed my ear for youthful dialogue, I think, and stories that the kids could perform, but would still be entertaining for their parents. (Which is my philosophy with my books now: appeal across ages.)
I'm not pursuing acting now. I find that being onstage fills that storytelling need; I lose some of the drive to tell a story on paper. And I like writing books, and not haven't to stay on such a rigorous diet.
Your next book, The Splendor Falls, comes out in September. The first line of the book summary reads: "Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can't dance." I am immediately intrigued. And on pins and needles. More accurately, on releve. (No, really. I'm a dancer, so I walk on my toes often, and I'm playing a ballerina in two of my current shows.) Tell me more about it.
The Splendor Falls is, at its heart, a Gothic novel in the vein of Mary Stewart, Phyllis A. Whitney, and Barbara Michaels. It's updated for modern sensibilities, but I think still timeless. Sylvie, the heroine, goes to stay with relatives in an old Southern plantation, which is full of mysteries and ghosts, figurative and... Well, the literal part is something she has to figure out. She's grieving for both her career as a dancer and for her father. So when she starts seeing things that aren't there, and feeling this weird connection to a guy she can't possibly have met before, she's worried that depression has sent her over the deep end. There's still humor, and lots of mystery and magic and romance. (And an adorable little dog, too. I think Gigi already has a fan following.)
It sounds as though Splendor is more serious in tone than GvsE. Do you find yourself writing in a certain manner for different characters or stories, or do you feel your writing is stylistically similar from one project to another?
Yes, the tone is different, but the voice is still the same. Sylvie is in a darker place, and her sense of humor reflects that. But she still HAS a sense of humor, and she's still able to pull herself up by her bootstraps and solve her own problems. So you know it's a Rosemary Clement-Moore book. Also the dialogue is there, the quirky characters, the mysteries of the past affecting the present, all those things that are emerging as RCM elements. It's darker, but also more romantic. If it were a movie, it would have a different soundtrack. But you'd still see my hand on it.
Lightning round!
Doctor Who: Favorite Doctor?
Nine. That tortured regret, that rage still bottled up, that beatific smile in "The Doctor Dances," those ears... All of it.
Doctor Who: Favorite Companion?
Rose... not just because of her name. She was fantastic and loyal and brave and foolish. The best and worst of what the Doctor has always loved about humans.
I love the concept of time travel, but I've only seen the recent seasons of Doctor Who, as opposed to the original series and such. I've enjoyed the Ninth and Tenth, favoring the latter. Should be interesting to see what happens with the Eleventh. And yes, go Rose, for all of her fear and bravery and foolishness and daring.
BtVS: Favorite season? Characters?
I don't remember the number, but Buffy's senior year.
Season Three - that's my favorite as well.
The Mayor, Faith, Angel coming back... Though I love pieces of all the seasons. I may be alone in my love of the Glory/Dawn/Key season. Favorite characters. Buffy. Giles. Angel. Faith. Spike, up to the point he and Buffy got together, which neutered him much worse than the chip in his head. Just saying.
Go Faith! I agree that Spike was much better as the bad guy than as the love interest-slash-neutured puppy.
Cary Grant: Amazing or AMAZING? (Clearly, this is rhetorical. I grinned widely when I saw Bringing Up Baby and Arsenic and Old Lace listed as two of your favorite movies. Cary Grant is one of my top three actors of all-time, with Gene Kelly and Barbara Stanwyck.)
LOL! AMAZING! OMG, I'll watch anything with Cary Grant in it.
This made me laugh out loud, happily so, and proclaim: Ditto.
He could do comedy and drama and thrillers... all while looking so dashing.
Yes, yes, and yes. That's why I respect and enjoy his acting so much: because he could perform different styles and types of characters equally well. Some of the earliest examples of breaking the fourth wall I can recall: the book The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood, and that moment in the movie Arsenic and Old Lace when he just looks directly at the camera. Yes.
Name ten of your all-time favorite books.
Oh, wow. I have many favorites depending on my mood, but these are ones I read over and over. My "feel good" reads when I need a pick me up.
The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle
Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper
Beat to Quarters (My favorite Horatio Hornblower novel, though I think I could put the whole series here), by C.S. Forester
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
Touch Not The Cat, by Mary Stewart
Jack, the Giant Killer, by Charles deLint
Again pulling from your website bio: Your favorite classical authors include Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott. What advice do you think Elizabeth Bennet and Jo March would offer to Maggie Quinn?
Oh, wow. Until I started thinking about this question, I never realized how much of Jo there is in Maggie. I don't think Mags is nearly as hot headed, but they're both stubborn past the point where reasonable people would change their minds. They both have ambitions that may not be where their best destiny lies. Maybe that's what Jo would tell Maggie -- Don't be so focused on your vision of your future that you don't stay open to what you're actually best at.
And Elizabeth? Obviously she'd tell her not to let her preconceived ideas keep her from seeing the truth about a person or a situation. Hmmm... That's very much akin to Jo's advice. I see a theme emerging.
Visit Rosemary's website and blog.
Make sure that you read the Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil books in order:
- Prom Dates From Hell
- Hell Week
- Highway to Hell
For similar stories, check out my Funny Fantasy Novels for Kids and Teens Booklist.
Today's SBBT Schedule
Barbara O'Connor at MotherReader
James Kennedy at Fuse #8
Maggie Stiefvater at Writing & Ruminating
Rosemary Clement-Moore at Bildungsroman
Jo Knowles at lectitans
Melissa Wyatt at Chasing Ray
Want to help get books into the hands of teen boys who really need them? Learn more about the GuysLitWire Book Fair for Boys.
At a team-building session this week, we analyzed our working personalities and split into four groups. At work, I (and many of my colleagues) were Golds: we love order, lists, planning, organizing, and deadlines. In honor of my Gold (yellow) work style, I'm posting this poem by Emily Dickinson.
Nature rarer uses yellow
Than another hue;
Saves she all of that for sunsets,--
Prodigal of blue,
Spending scarlet like a woman,
Yellow she affords
Only scantly and selectly,
Like a lover's words.
-- Emily Dickinson
Poetry Friday is at Book Aunt this week.
Have a great weekend!
Beth
The kids are back in school. The dog has gone back to her full time occupation - sleeping on the couch. And I have the freedom to obsess about writing once again.
Glee!
I've hunkered down with John Gardner the last couple of days. Writer/professor/Breadloaf speaker, most known for his nonfiction works on writing skills - The Art of Fiction and On Moral Fiction. I am in an MFA program. There will be challenging (read, it makes my brain hurt to try and understand) craft reading. John has tried his best to teach me what it means to be a true writer. To delve deeply for Truth, Beauty and the Good. Between you and me, I think I tend more toward that nebulous line he draws between the mad and the artist. I mean who isn't when -
You might be a writer if you revise everything, including your clothing.
It's true!
Just yesterday, I found myself in a day long outfit revision. It's not entirely my fault. I've been presented with unusual dressing conditions. It is normally in the 90s this time of year in Oklahoma. Not this year. We saw the low 50s this morning. The low 50s! This has forced us sunshine worshippers into the murky realm of "layering." You know, a t-shirt, sweater, maybe a jacket, all to be peeled away as the day warms up. Northerners are pro. True artists. Not so much those of us in down below the frost border.
Shivering but still fully in John-Gardner-delve-deeper-to-find-Truth,-Good-and-Beauty mode, I did not grab the first thing I saw (a wool sweater) but delved deeply to find my Truth about the art of cool weather dressing. I ended up with a dark memory of northern German dressing practices. I lived in northern Germany for 5 years. Number one rule when living right on the Baltic Sea where it is constantly windy and cool - wear a scarf. It's an absolute must.
I pulled out a scarf.
The problem was, because I was still sort of in summer mode, I pulled out a very thin (as in narrow) scarf. I threw it casually around my neck, grabbed my leather jacket (another northern German must provided it's not raining. That calls for fleece-lined oilskin jackets) and went out to walk the dog.
Because the scarf was so narrow, it wasn't exactly keeping my neck warm. So, I tried wrapping it snugly and knotting it on one side. Much better. My neck was warm. And it looked good.
But now the necklace I was wearing suddenly seemed superfluous. An adverb made redundant by a good verb. Off came the necklace.
Which, of course, meant I needed to change the earrings.
That made the background all wrong. I changed shirts.
The jeans stayed, though. I didn't edit out everything...exactly.
But the shoes definitely had to go (No, I was not trying to get away from revisions on actual writing yesterday...much). The tied scarf's, how shall I say...French sophistication called for much snazzier shoes than the sneakers I'd thrown on. So I changed shoes.
Finally, it was perfect. Ready for the world to see.
Which makes it sort of ironic that I was at home alone. I had created an Emily Dickinson outfit. Flawless but never to be seen until posthumously.
Hold on.
Does that mean I need to revise my will now too?
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The spirit of poetry past comes shining through in My Uncle Emily, a 2009 release from Jane Yolen. We can always depend on Ms. Yolen to deliver a wonderfully crafted story. This one is stellar in its use of lyrical prose to capture the tone of Emily Dickinson's poetry and time period.
Emily Dickinson's nephew, Gilbert, is the child friendly entry point to Ms. Dickinson's poetry. Gilbert wonders about the symbols in his "Uncle Emily's" poetry. Gilbert must share her poetry with his class, but he is afraid the other students won't like or understand it either. When he finally learns to decode her ideas he lights up, "like a lamp."
My Uncle Emily, has clear themes of honesty and peaceful resolution of conflict but none of them are preachy or heavy handed. The actions and reactions of the characters are true to the story and true to life. In fact, Ms. Yolen ends the book with a piece entitled, "What's True About This Story."
Patti Lee Gauch of Philomel is the editor for this beautifully designed book. It is not often that the editor is cited in the front matter. However, Ms. Gauch is well known for her editorial achievements and her own use of lyrical prose in Thunder At Gettysburg one of the first "novels in verse."
Nancy Carpenter, a two time recipient of the Christoper Award, illustrates the book with pen and ink and digital media. The effect is of colorful engravings which perfectly fit the Amherst, Massachusettes setting circa 1881. I was especially enthalled by Ms. Carpenter's use of negative space which frames the illustrations and focuses the reader's attention to particular details. Her lovely muted palette, the patterning and texture, and her gestural line capture the costume, light and formality of the period.
Ms. Yolen's book delightfully treats modern children to the spirit of poets past.
The daisy follows soft the sun,
And when his golden walk is done,
Sits shyly at his feet.
He, waking, finds the flower near.
"Wherefore, marauder, art thou here?"
"Because, sir, love is sweet!"
We are the flower, Thou the sun!
Forgive us, if as days decline,
We nearer steal to Thee,-
Enamoured of the parting west,
The peace, the flight, the amethyst,
Night's possibility!
- by Emily Dickinson
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Hello, friends, hope you had a creative week. I've been thinking a lot about honesty lately. Here is a thing I've learned -- if I am brave and write down the things that I'm afraid to write down, then I find that my writing stretches beyond me. Locked doors open inside me as I let the deep things I think live on the page. I find this whole bravery thing snowballs into my work. My vision clears. Writing what I think helps me. I see what is right and true. And if anything is wrong with what I am thinking that comes out to. Putting my thoughts on the page helps me get at heart of things.
I've also found all this honesty spills into my work. I am more willing to take risks. I don't feel the weight of censors or critics, and I get to the business of shaping my stories the way they want to be shaped. I'm able to make my way into the deepest water of understanding. Emily Dickinson wrote a little poem that sticks with me. "I never saw the moor. I never saw the sea. Yet know I how the heather looks and and what a wave must be. I never visited God, nor visited in heaven, but sure am I of the spot as if the chart were given." Her assurance of things unseen gives me boldness. Her truth changes me. I hope you are getting the sense of the absolute power of writing what needs to be written.
So this week, write down your secret, write down that thought you don't write down because you know it will offend others, write down your anger, your grief, write down something hidden. See what happens when you open wide the door of honesty. I'm just saying, try it. Seize the day. See you next week.
My doodle this week is a little collage. I call it "Sunrise".
The highest compact we can make with our fellow is - "Let there be truth between us two forevermore." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
...happened to me this Saturday.
I got an email from a friend, asking me if I might write a post or two about creating verse novels. Though I'm no expert, I jotted down a few things that have worked for me and planned to devote this week to writing stories through poetry.
Then the second thing:
I read Stephanie Hemphill's YOUR OWN, SYLVIA: A VERSE PORTRAIT OF SYLVIA PLATH
and promptly felt like a fraud.
Stephanie is a master craftsman, a scholar, a poet, a writer extraordinaire. I had a high school English class knowledge of Sylvia before reading this book and have walked away with a real sense of her style, her drive, and her heartache. For me this book was a combination of THE DIARY OF EMILY DICKINSON, a novel I read in one sitting and wanted desperately to be real, and SAVAGE BEAUTY, the fascinating, bizarre biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay.
I have really had no training in poetry. Outside of my own meager reading for pleasure, I read even less in college (and my degree is in middle school English education). What I'm trying to say is I don't know much at all about this whole poetry business, and reading a book like Stephanie's firmly reminds me of this.
Last fall, when I attended a revision retreat led by Darcy Pattison, we had a brief conversation about our writing. I shared with her I had, up to that point, sold two poems to children's magazines and had a verse novel out with a few agents. "So you're a poet," she said, and I panicked. Because I'm not a well-studied, well-read mind. I'm a person who likes to play with language. I'm a person fortunate enough to have written a novel that clicked with a few people who could make something of it. That's it.
So, if you can keep that in mind, I'd be happy to talk verse novels with all of you this week.
I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.
...He questioned softly why I failed?
'For beauty,' I replied.
'And I for truth,-the two are one;
We brethren are,' he said.
And so, as kinsmen met a night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.
Emily Dickinson
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Love love your poem, Heidi! And Charles's compliment was a good one :).
Love it! What a great collaborative blend!
e.e. & Emily's love child! How wonderful. Your poem honors them both yet is uniquely YOU. Thank you so much for sharing!
I love the image of you preening around the house with Charles' compliment on your head like a crown - priceless! And what a beautiful compliment it is.
I think you did your poetic parents proud with this lovely poem. Beautiful imagery and rhythm - I'm particularly drawn to "the view of (Always) what’s to come / is better: finer: cleaner"
:)
Lovely post and poem, Heidi! I am going to save "We Be" in my e-poetry journal :-)
Ohh La La!!
Oh Heidi you;re so sweet to mention me on your blog. All I did was tell the truth as I saw it. :-)
Heidi, I have just posted for this week's Poetry friday and am not sure where to send you the link so I hope you find it here :-) I wish you and yours a very happy Winter Solstice - and, although my post that focuses on the poet John Agard is not exactly seasonal, I hope it will injexct a little caribbean sunshine into your celebrations!
www.papertigers.org/wordpress/poetry-friday-congratulations-to-john-agard-winner-of-the-queens-gold-medal-for-poetry-2012/
And I've enjoyed catching up with last week's poem, and indeed the Gingerbread Shed, both of which I love for the atmosphere that each conjures up.