A Favorite Poem
Years ago my college roommate Sarita gave me a book of poems by Alice Walker called Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful. A favorite from that collection is a poem called HOW POEMS ARE MADE/A DISCREDITED VIEW. I was reminded of the poem yesterday when someone talked about letting a lover go. I feel inspired to share it, but I’m not sure about the rules about posting entire poems. I’ll post the first two stanzas, and let you follow a link to the rest of it.
HOW POEMS ARE MADE: A DISCREDITED VIEW
by Alice Walker
Letting go
in order to hold on
I gradually understand
how poems are made.
There is a place the fear must go.
There is a place the choice must go.
There is a place the loss must go.
The leftover love.
The love that spills out
of the too full cup
and runs and hides
its too full self
in shame.
Click here to read the whole poem.
More Knitting
Julie and I spent some more time knitting today. We picked up the second side of gusset stitches and are beginning some decreases that involve some ssk’s. I love learning new jargon. Knitspeak. Julie said hers looked like little buntings so she asked her daughter to grab a nesting doll. Cool, huh?
Julie’s daughter was skeptical of our mirth.
Julie’s sock.
Sarah’s sock. I am making mine shorter because that’s how I like my socks. Imagine that? Custom-made socks.
Square Books Jr. and Oxford Public Library
Two of the young visitors at Square Books Jr. use Private Eye jewelers loupes to examine snails and other things from my basket. This is Sallie and Julia, the daughters of fellow writer/illustrator Sarah Frances, who hails from Oxford. This is a great bookstore for settling in and browsing a terrific collection.
Here is the desk Jill set up for me to sign on. She made me sit there to read, too. You can see her pictures of that section of the event on Square Books Jr.’s Facebook page. And, here is Jill.
Before the bookstore, I went to the Oxford Public Library for a presentation for young readers. The kids had fantastic questions — about everything from snails to photography. I think Nancy Opalko, the children’s librarian, for the invitation. I also got to see Judy Card, the youth services coordinator for the First Regional Library, of which the Oxford branch is a part. I first met Nancy and Judy at the Mississippi Library Association conference last fall and wrote about it here.
Knitting
Two friends and I are knitting two socks at a time on two sets of circular needles. The above photo shows Jennifer working on the first full row.
This is how mine look. (I had to start over after somehow getting things all cattywompus.)
These are Julie’s after no false starts and a long afternoon at the pool. Isn’t she cruising?
I’ll keep you posted on progress.
Trip to Oxford
I am taking Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature to Oxford, Miss., Wednesday for appearances at the Oxford Public Library and Square Books Jr. Please come see me if you are in the vicinity. The presentation at the library will be more about Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator and the reading/signing at the bookstore will focus on Growing Patterns.
On Thursday, I will be on Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s Creature Comforts Radio Show at 9 a.m. Libby Hartfield, director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, invited me on to talk about wolfsnails. We’ll have some time to discuss Growing Patterns, too, and topics close to my heart like photography, getting kids interested in nature, helping kids learn to take pictures, etc. I hope you’ll tune in and call in some questions.
Growing Patterns Goes to Church
I shared Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature during the Sunday School hour at Wells Memorial United Methodist Church. I used to teach Sunday School to many of these children so it was great to be back among them with a new book. I read and then we examined some Fibonacci related objects from my basket: pinecones, shells of a nautilus, and a sand dollar. We used regular hand-held magnifying lenses and some Private Eye jeweler’s loupes. In the photograph above, taken by one of the teachers, the Rev. Keith Tonkel joins us for a brief discussion.
Local News Story on Website
I received permission to post a recent television interview on my website. You can check it out here.
I appreciate the help of Bob Burks, the Director of New Media for WLBT-Channel 3, the NBC affiliate in Jackson.