Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Molly at
Nix the Comfort Zone for Roundup.
*First a moment of silence for one Lee Bennett Hopkins. I prepared this post before I heard the news of his death, as I am traveling. One of the great honors of my poetic life has been being included in some of Lee's anthologies and receiving awards in Lee's name. Lee has done so much to promote poetry and to nurture poets. What a gift to the world! I'm grateful for every word and interaction. My thoughts are with all whose lives were touched by him.
This year as my summer reading project, I decided to revisit Marguerite Henry's body of work. I'm on book #7 of the 16 volume boxed set, and today I'd like to share something from each book... and also a fresh poem inspired by one of the books. Here goes:
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BENJAMIN WEST AND HIS CAT GRIMALKIN - based on the true life of Benjamin West, known as "the father of American painting."
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"The hours flew. Often he caught himself
humming like a teakettle. Happiness seemed to bubble up inside him
whenever he painted."
BLACK GOLD – based on the heartbreaking true story about 1924 Kentucky Derby winner whose
trainer later decided not to do surgery to correct quarter crack in
hoof, and Black Gold never won another race and then broke leg in
final race and had to be put down. You can visit his memorial at
centerfield of Fair Ground Park.
“'Patience is the trick, Jaydee,' Griffin would explain. 'Time is like a rubber band. It stretches
some, but if you pull it to the breaking point, it snaps back and
hits you in the face. Never rush a colt. Long, slow workouts are the
ticket. Colts are just like youngsters, Jaydee. Rush 'em and they get so excited they're too
tired to rest at night; they want to bite and kick and play until
they're clean tuckered out. You try it slow and patience, my boy, and
you'll get results.'”
BORN TO TROT - about the beginnings of America's "Trotter" breed and sport.
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"He had no oats to
offer, no sugar. He wanted no cupboard love from Rosalind. She was no
pet, no plaything. She was a magnificent creature of bone and brawn
and satin, with years of trotting music bred in her. He wanted her only to accept him as part of the sights and sounds and smells of
her life, to go on about her business aware of him but not wary."
BRIGHTY OF THE
GRAND CANYON - a burro's adventures with man and nature in the place he makes his home. There's also a
film by the same name... anyone seen it? It's on my to-watch list!
"With tired feet
Brighty tested the welcoming green carpet. His hoofs sank deep. He
doubled his legs like a jackknife and fell into its softness. A great
peace came over him. For along time he lay still, as if bedding down
for the night. Then wanting to feel more of it, he began rolling
blissfully, this way and that, enjoying the springiness of the grass
after his rocky canyon beds. At last he rose to crop the juicy
blades. A doe and her spotted twins came to share his retreat, but
they gazed wet-nosed at him from a little distance.
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The sun dipped low
and purpled the shadows across the meadow. Brighty heaved a sigh. The
meadow as just where it should be. He had rolled in it. He had eaten
his fill of it. Now to find his secret cave and then to give himself
to sleep."
CINNABAR, THE ONE O'CLOCK FOX - this one could be my favorite, and it's not even about a horse. :)
"Cinnabar was, in truth, afraid of
nothing. Neither of dark, nor of storm; nor of hunters nor hounds. He
was free and unfearing, the very spirit of the wilds."
"Though why they called it Honey Hill,
he would never know. Not once had he seen or heard a single honeybee.
Oh, well, man's ways were wondrous strange and he was not one to
other his head trying to change things that were. They just were, and
that was an end to it."
"By now the pot was boiling. 'The
water has stopped smiling; it's laughing out loud!' Mischief
announced as she looked into the steaming pot."
“'Life is nice and round,' he
continued reflectively. 'No beginning. No ending. I am now arrived
at an age when you, my children, will carry on for me.'”
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BROWN SUNSHINE OF
SAWDUST VALLEY - about
a horse-loving girl who doesn't get the horse she wants at an
auction... but gets a big surprise when the horse she does bring
home foals a mule colt! I learned about Mule Day and mule parades,
as Brown Sunshine was asked to be Mule King. Next year I'd like to
go to Columbia TN for their Mule Day, which has a 100 year history
http://muleday.org/
And now.... a poem! Because there are a lot of stereotypes about mules. But what if we decided to learn from them instead of thinking we have them all figured out? Enjoy!
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If You Bring a Mule to School
Don't be surprised
if your teacher learns a thing or two:
what one calls stubborn
is sometimes patience in
disguise
mischievous can be code
for intensely curious
and nothing is silkier
more miraculous
more rousing
than a long pair
of (teacherly) ears
listening, simply
listening.
- Irene Latham
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I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead?
