FOR THE LOVE OF FRIDAY

First of all, it's Poetry Friday!! Dust off your verses, and share something at Roundup: The Blog With the Shockingly Clever Title.

Next up: We've just had a wonderful visit with Papa. I'm sorry to see it end. But he does live in Bismarck, and he does have other children, so he simply MUST hit the road. So. A little sadness today. But happiness too. Time together is so precious.

Besides, I'm skipping town myself. Heading to SCBWI Midsouth conference. Ellen Hopkins will be there! And lots of writing buds, too. I'm excited!

I'll be back next week with updates and exciting news. Meanwhile, here is a timely
poem I've loved for many years:

September

Tonight there must be people who are getting what they want.
I let my oars fall into the water.
Good for them. Good for them, getting what they want.

The night is so still that I forget to breathe.
The dark air is getting colder. Birds are leaving.

Tonight there are people getting just what they need.

The air is so still that it seems to stop my heart.
I remember you in a black and white photograph
taken this time of some year. You were leaning against
a half-shed tree, standing in the leaves the tree had lost.

When I finally exhale it takes forever to be over.

Tonight, there are people who are so happy,
that they have forgotten to worry about tomorrow.

Somewhere, people have entirely forgotten about tomorrow.
My hand trails in the water.
I should not have dropped those oars. Such a soft wind.

- Jennifer Michael Hecht


from her book,
"The Next Ancient World"


available from Amazon.com or Tupelo Press