Fallen

Yes. It's been a while again. I think this is my monthly blog. I had to share about the strange fall we've had. Warm now in December. A snow storm before Halloween. All the trees that had fallen are still being trimmed and gathered by the roadsides. It reminded me of a poem with the same title that appears in my chapbook, Coming Unfrozen.

FALLEN

Past

the old

wood pile

and white

pine path,

heavy ice

stretches

birch trees—

crystal arches—

dancers frozen

in arabesque.

No one

to bind

their sullen

branches

before

the storm,

no one

to bury their

 surrendered

souls. Surely,

spring harbors

such cruel spells.

Here and

there poplar

leaves flicker—

crinoline in

April's wind;

they remain

among the fallen

without option

or regret.

Epic

It’s official. Fall is here as of today. This is when we ask each other questions such as where did the time go? Or what was your favorite summer memory? Surprisingly one of my best memories took place at the library. I know. It’s hard to believe. After all I did venture off to see black bears and whales in Alaska. What could beat that?

Well, the Teen Poetry Club came close. I had the privilege of introducing teens to a variety of poetic forms and several award-winning poets for five weeks. True, I was wondering who would sign up for this club. I mean, there are trips to the beach, visits to grandparents. I found the answer to that question on the first day—teens who are passionate about writing, and who are really, really good at it, too..

That said, I thought it was only appropriate that I share some of their work (with their permission, of course). I do this for two reasons: first, so you can be thoroughly impressed with the caliber of young writers here in Norwood, and second, so you may think about signing up for this workshop next summer.

Each time we covered a different topic in our workshop. Here’s a poem that one student, Lauren Swank, wrote during our first meeting. We were discussing the use of dreams and special places to jump start our writing when Lauren penned the following:

Dreams

Loud voices come from the excited crowd,

all of these sounds seem so loud.

Will he cooperate throughout the course?

Will he be a good little horse?

I look ahead at the obstacles before me.

All I am thinking about is he

who needs support because his head is down.

I tell him softly “a smile is better than a frown.”

A big horse trots on by.

My little horse seems so shy.

My horse looks up for he is towered

by the horse who has over-powered

my poor shire who is all alone

when the whistle blows he stands like stone.

I softly say “Just take your time”

and after that he seemed just fine.

He did the course in two minutes flat.

We walked past the rest and said “Beat That!”

The judges gave us a First Place prize and

I then could not believe my eyes.

Loud noises came from the excited crowd

and those noises made my shire seem so proud.

Here’s another dream-inspired poem by Dina Delic. She brings her reader right into the strange and stirring place of a dream, or nightmare as the case may be.

Breathe

Light flickers through,

blue-white like an old film,

and I see her,

silently staring at a wall

that

doesn’t

exist.

And I can see her closed lids,

see her struggling to breathe,

because her bone corset is laced too tight.

Her wings are tied up, and she wants to fly,

to feel the air on her skin,

but

she

can’t.

She is laced too tight.

Her corset won’t let her breathe.

Society won’t let her breathe.

The heavy damask curtains won’t let her breathe.

She wants out,

but she can’t get out,

can’t loosen the ribbons restraining her freedom.

The light flickers out,

and I can still see her,

struggling to be free.

To breathe.

Just breathe.

Breathe.

This one is a pantoum by Sara Harder. The poet J. Lorraine Brown came to our club to discuss this particular form. In case you want to try writing one, a pantoum as defined by Merriam Webster is “a series of quatrains rhyming abab in which the second rhyme of a quatrain recurs as the first in the succeeding quatrain, each quatrain introduces a new second rhyme (as bcbc, cdcd).”

Cookies

Sweet and tasty

Crunchy and round

Chocolate chip and peanut butter

Sugar cookies and almond rounds

Crunchy and round

Sticky dough on a baking tray

Sugar cookies and almond rounds

With sugar and flour and butter

Sticky dough on a baking tray

Cooling on a wire rack

With sugar and flour and butter

Mixing in a mixing bowl

Cooling on a wire rack

Chocolate chip and peanut butter

Mixing in a mixing bowl

Cookies, sweet and tasty

Another local poet, Jean Tupper, inspired the teens to write a list poem. After all, everyone has some kind of list. I’ve made my To-Do lists into poems now and then.

Often Haiku can appear deceptively easy. Short and sweet, right? But the students learned from poet, Fran Witham, that there are several key elements to haiku, including a reference to nature. This example is by Lauren Swank.

Frolicking in dandelions
Her head held high
She is free

Our final class was on ekphrastic poetry. JoAnne Preiser showed us famous works of art as inspiration for our own poems. Meenu Ravi write this poem:

Those Who Are

Our sorrows are of worlds whose patina shed

The laughter and beauty of all long lifeless

The saber of new old battles, the coronal of new queens

And jolly and simple and downhearted sorrows of me

With melody in our hands ever- shall we dance

All are our family, the world is our home

Where the voice of the wind sings my wandering feet

Through the echoing woods and the echoing street

What love shall we sow, what peace shall we gather

The voice of the breeze is the voice of our future fate

No love wishes us dawdle, no peace wishes us wait

Where the wind sings our wandering footsteps we go

So yes, when someone asks me what my best summer memory is, I tell them about my teenage poetry club. What started as the seed of an idea, grew into a spectacular experience. As a matter of fact, I think the teens had a pretty good time, too. After all, I received the ultimate compliment from them. Not only did they ask if we could do this again next summer (yah!), but they told me it was “epic.” In teen lingo, that’s not too shabby. Then again, that’s something a few of us knew all along…poetry is definitely “epic!”

Published in the Norwood Transcript 9/23/11

The Journey

No big thoughts today, only an inspiring youtube from my lovely friend, Theresa Rizzo. Hope you enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BUJdV9gS0A

You Can Say That Again

One afternoon in July, my Grandmother and Auntie Babe decided to take me and my cousin, Beth, for a hike up Blue Hills. We were ten or eleven. I’m not sure. It was one of those memorable days, not because of the weather (hot and sticky) or the scenery (I remember watching for rattlers someone reported). No, it was because of our silly commentary. My cousin and I sounded more senior than the seniors we were with, as if we’d stepped off the nursing home bus.

“My legs are killing me,” I said.

“You can say that again,” my cousin chimed in.

With that my Grandmother and Aunt howled. We weren’t even a quarter of the way up the hill. And this became one of those legendary family stories. How wimpy the next generation is, or something like that. Doesn’t take much, does it?

Getting up that hill took quite a bit of effort. Needless to say we were pooped after the first few switchbacks. This was quite a surprise to us. We had our walking shoes and sticks. We were young and energetic. We thought we could beat our relatives to the top, no problem. Boy did we have a few things to learn.

So too with writing, and more so with publishing. I thought writing came easily. It was natural, a gift. After all, this is where I excelled. Chemistry was a natural disaster. Economics ruined my first semester in college, but give me an article to write, a short story to create, and I was golden.

Or so I thought. But when I began to submit my poetry for publication on a cold day in 1999, I got a reality check. My first rejection letter appeared in the mail. Soon I was keeping a pin cushion by my desk. I stuck red pins in for all of my rejections. Now and then I’d add green for a meager acceptance. I was starting to see this took leg work, and my legs were killing me.

You can say that again! It wasn’t as easy as whipping out a poem one night and seeing it in The New Yorker the next month. This was a climb. Allowing your work to be workshopped and critiqued is never easy, but for most of us, it’s the only way to perfect your art.

With picture books, it’s the same story. I can work and rework a story. I can revise for editors and agents, change my characters from boys to ducks. I can add words, subtract metaphors, and editors will claim to love it. Still, the Big Kahuna editor who sits on the top of Blue Hill may decide it’s not quirky enough or too quiet. *)(*^%&)_4%# So I rework it, and send it out again.

So when is it done? I have two answers. Ellen Bryant Voigt is famous for telling one poetry student, “Honey, it’s all draft until you die.” Certainly this is one thought, but I have another. When I received a phone call announcing my grand prize from Writer’s Digest, I was on a mountain, literally. I was attending the Frost Festival of Poetry in Franconia, New Hampshire. The poem (White Birch) that won the prize was being critiqued when I received that famous call. Some people had no idea what the poem was about. Some people suggested fewer words. Others thought I should expand it. And many had valid points. Still, in the middle of all that, several editors at Writer’s Digest thought it deserved grand prize.

My point? Work hard. Rewrite, and rewrite some more. At some point it will be a winner in an editor’s mind, even if “it’s all draft until you die.” Someone will always have another criticism to add to the pile. Only you, the author, can decide when it's done. But it’s worth the back-breaking climb and then some. "You can say that again!"

The Art of Generosity

A few weeks ago I was dining at one of our favorite restaurants. Our friendly waiter told us that he was exhausted. His wife’s family had immigrated from Shanghai and he had 17 people living in his tiny house, including one very bossy two-year-old. We marveled at his generous spirit, having put aside his own comfort for the needs of many. But his story is my husband’s as well. Without the generosity of his Aunt Sally, he would have never escaped from Communist China to a better life.

For several summers I was privileged to attend the Frost Place Poetry Festival in Franconia, New Hampshire. We were poets on the move, upwardly bound. We had talent, by God. Soon our words would be found in the likes of Poetry and the Atlantic Monthly, if only the famed guest poets would escort our poems to another level.

One man challenged our outlook with a gentle daily reminder. Donald Sheehan was the Director of the Festival and the embodiment of humility. I’ll never forget his understated wisdom: Take care of each other. Listen carefully. And if it comes down to heart vs head, sympathy vs intelligence, choose heart. While you are here for this week, it is your job to make one other person’s work stronger.

Whether author or artist, teacher or student, we are called to have a generous spirit. Yes, we want to make it in the world of publishing. Yes, we want others to fall in love with our work and to fall asleep with our words on their tongues. But to give back to another—whatever your talent, there is nothing nobler than this. The generous artist works to make another person’s work stronger....at least those are my words for today.

In memory of my mentor, Donald Sheehan

"To Pay Attention, This is Our Endless and Proper Work." Mary Oliver

As a visiting author I often talk to students about the art of writing. I include this quotation by Mary Oliver in my Storing Up Treasures presentation. This is what is required of writers—to pay attention. We observe the tiniest details in life, things that others may pass by or over, and we hold onto them, treasure them, until we find the perfect place in our stories, poems, essays, where that detail will shine. Often I ask the students about their busy after school activities. They play soccer, basketball, baseball; they are in girl scouts or boy scouts. Then I ask who goes home and does absolutely NOTHING. A few raise their hands. They are reticent to let their classmates know that they “don’t have a life.” I surprise them. I tell them they are the perfect candidates for being great writers. Not that writers don’t have a life. Not that we shouldn’t be out there doing and observing and journaling. But sometimes we need quiet time. What are words without reflection? And when we have these still moments, we can pull out our journals and begin to put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard. As Mary Oliver said, we cannot help but to “pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”

Library Column

Just thought I'd share the article I wrote last week for the Norwood Transcript. I know some of you can relate. You can also find it here: http://norwoodlibrary.org/uncategorized/m-is-for-mothers-day-by-nancy-ling/

M is for Mother’s Day – by Nancy Ling

Posted on May 5, 2011 by MZlibrary

Nancy Ling is an Outreach Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read her column in the Norwood Transcript & Bulletin.

Somehow it seems fitting that my debut article for the Norwood Transcript falls around Mother’s Day. While some folks love the treats and tricks of Halloween or the long stem roses of Valentine’s Day, I’d trade them all for a simple homemade card on Mother’s Day.

Like many of you I feel a special something for all the wonderful mothers out there. My hat goes off to them: working moms, stay-at-home moms, retired moms, adopted moms, foster moms, two- in-the-morning-wake-up-moms. Still I have a special place in my heart for the woman who is often forgotten this time of year—the not-yet mother. It’s during those waiting years that the not-yet mother wonders if her deepest desire will ever be fulfilled.

I’ll never forget the despondency a woman may feel when faced with a future without children. For five years I was that not-yet mother and Mother’s Day was one of the hardest holidays to endure. It became one of those dreaded Sundays when I felt surrounded by beaming parents who couldn’t relate to a childless couple. There was one Mother’s Day that stands out, however.

Fearing the typical church service paying homage to motherhood, while at the same time overwhelmed with guilt for such resentment, I hunkered down in the pew next to my husband. I knew what was coming.

That’s when Reverend Robert Davidson began preaching about Hannah—another not-yet mother. I was shocked. Someone had actually noticed my pain, and that someone had put aside the needs of the majority for the needs of one. It was as if a floodgate had been opened. My situation wasn’t new. There were women centuries ago who’d also endured the same.

It is sometimes in the darkest moments of life that rebirth comes. I had always loved to write, but suddenly I found a new voice. I didn’t have the energy for short stories or novels, but poetry poured from my soul. Writing became healing. While there was much I couldn’t control, I could write. My thoughts. The pen. The paper. Those were under my influence. I was so consumed with writing that before I knew it I had two births…one to a beautiful baby girl, the other to my first collection of poetry: Laughter in My Tent.

Peggy Orenstein can relate. In her memoir, Waiting for Daisy, she poignantly addresses the topic of infertility. Orenstein’s subtitle says it all: “A Tale of Two Continents, Three Religions, Five Infertility Doctors, an Oscar, and Atomic Bomb, a Romantic Night, and One Woman’s Quest to Become a Mother.” That title alone beckoned me to read this true to life love story. At times humorous and wrenching, Orenstein takes her readers through the courageous account of her journey to motherhood.

And no, after this long wait, none of us becomes perfect mothers. But hopefully, we become appreciative ones. There are things we’ll never forget: first steps, first teeth, first silly giggles at the water swirling down the drain, or bubbles in the sand box. Through a collection of essays Because I Love Her highlights the bond between mothers and daughters. These personal stories reveal life lessons imparted by mothers. One of my favorite essays is by Katherine Center. Entitled “Things to Remember Not to Forget.” These first lines will give you a taste of her humorous voice: “At our house, for our kids, who are two and five, everything is better with a big side order of Naked. Jumping on the bed is good, but Naked Jumping is better. Hiding in the closet is good, but Naked Hiding is better….The only thing, in fact, that’s not better naked is bathing, which is far better done with socks on.”

It’s a happy mother who embraces a sock bath. Eww. I believe pediatrician Meg Meeker, M.D., would approve. In her book The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers, Meeker encourages mothers to reclaim their passion, purpose and sanity. Is that possible? By the end of the book, you’ll be a believer too. As my wise Uncle Norman used to say, a habit is hard to break. If you take away the “H,” you still have “a bit.” Take away the “A,” you still have a “bit.” All the way down to the “it.” But Meeker delves into habits that are worth keeping. From faith to solitude, friendship to finance, Meeker shares practical steps to becoming a fulfilled mother.

And for all of those mothers who are able to find pockets of solitude, how about a light mystery? Mother’s Day Murder (a Lucy Stone mystery), by Leslie Meier, might be just the right read to keep in your back pocket. According to Library Journal Review, “Small-town life in Maine should be quiet and safe, but feuding families, high-school bullying, and the murder of a missing 16-year-old girl makes Tinker’s Cove residents overprotective of their children and suspicious of one other. Another murder places Lucy Stone, part-time reporter and mother of four, in the thick of things.”

As for me, I’ll be reading The Night Before Mother’s Day, by Natasha Wing, to my two daughters. You’re never too old for picture books, right? In this sweet story, a mother finds all she needs for a perfect holiday right at home: a homemade cake, a homemade spa treatment and lots of love. That is, after all, what I’m wishing for all the moms and future moms out there…a chance to stop, pause and embrace those moments in life worth treasuring. Happy Mother’s Day!