Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Laura (who has a brand-new look!) at Writing the World for Kids for Roundup.
I've been waiting. And thinking about waiting. And writing about waiting. If you haven't picked up WAITING by Kevin Henkes, please do! It seems everything is waiting for something -- and what beauty there is to see! I'd like to give this book to some wee folks in my life along with a set of cat nesting dolls.
One of the things I've been waiting on is this announcement, from Publisher's Weekly:
Carol Hinz at Millbrook Press has bought world rights to It's Not Black and White, by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko. In this collection of poems, a white woman and a black man have a conversation, writing about everyday elements from their childhoods – including family dinners, sports, church, and toys. It's scheduled for fall 2017; Rosemary Stimola of Stimola Literary Studio represented the co-authors, and Rebecca Sherman of Writers House represented the co-illustrators.
Yay!! I loved collaborating with Charles, and we are excited to see what this amazing illustration duo does with our words. So happy to share this with all of you!
And now a poem by Mary Oliver that speaks to the beauty of waiting:
Such Silence
As deep as I ever went into the forest
I came upon an old stone bench, very, very old,
and around it a clearing, and beyond that
trees taller and older than I had ever seen.
I came upon an old stone bench, very, very old,
and around it a clearing, and beyond that
trees taller and older than I had ever seen.
Such silence!
It really wasn’t so far from a town, but it seemed
all the clocks in the world had stopped counting.
So it was hard to suppose the usual rules applied.
It really wasn’t so far from a town, but it seemed
all the clocks in the world had stopped counting.
So it was hard to suppose the usual rules applied.
Sometimes there’s only a hint, a possibility.
What’s magical, sometimes, has deeper roots
than reason.
I hope everyone knows that.
What’s magical, sometimes, has deeper roots
than reason.
I hope everyone knows that.
I sat on the bench, waiting for something.
An angel, perhaps.
Or dancers with the legs of goats.
An angel, perhaps.
Or dancers with the legs of goats.
No, I didn’t see either. But only, I think, because
I didn’t stay long enough.
I didn’t stay long enough.
- Mary Oliver, BLUE HORSES: Poems (Penguin, 2014)
Other "waiting" poems:"I Am Waiting" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
"Waiting" by Raymond Carver
"Everything is Waiting for You" by David Whyte
"The Waiting Place" by Dr. Seuss
What could be better than a book of poems by Irene Latham and Charles Waters?? Congrats!
ReplyDeleteOther waiting poems: "Waiting" by Nikki Grimes, D’Anne Witkowski's "Waiting for a tune-up at Superior Auto, Ferndale, Michigan"
Kudos on your new poetry book! Many thanks for sharing poems of silence and waiting. The former, I love. Silence. The latter, not so much. Waiting. I need to immerse myself in words about waiting that make me more expectantly, happily, contentedly, patient....God bless you! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations again on the new book!!! I was SO excited to read about it in PW.
ReplyDeleteHave heard such great things about Kevin's new book. Must find it soon. I'm a longtime fan of all his work so I'm sure this one won't disappoint. And Mary Oliver too, in the same post? *swoons* Thank you!
Congratulations on this lovely collaboration, Irene. I'm sure it will make a book that we will love. I bought the book, Waiting, when it came out, and the granddaughters adore it, & have a set of nesting dolls! Mary Oliver's writing is always a joy, & she has a new book coming next week. The image of that bench makes me want to hike in a forest, looking, wondering what I would find. Thank you for it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous collaboration! Love this Mary Oliver, too - another gem.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on It's Not Black and White! I have no doubt that a collaboration between the two of you will be amazing! And thanks for sharing the Mary Oliver poem.
ReplyDeleteCONGRATULATIONS!!! I know this will be an awesome book. So happy for you and Charles :) and love the absence of clocks in the Oliver poem
ReplyDeleteMany congratulations to you both! I wish you rave reviews and great success!
ReplyDeleteSuper excited to be on this journey with you, friend. Social media has been VERY receptive to this lovely news! Carol Hinz rules!
ReplyDeleteSuper excited to be on this journey with you, friend. Social media has been VERY receptive to this lovely news! Carol Hinz rules!
ReplyDeleteWow! Very exciting news, Irene and Charles. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteWOOT! An important book by two talented poets!
ReplyDeleteSOOOO excited for you and Charles, Irene, and SOOOO exited for this new book! Congrats to you and Charles. :D
ReplyDeleteIt will be difficult to wait for this new book, but I will do so with joy for my friends. Kevin H's book is magical! Thank you for today's collection... xx
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