I’m happy to share some exciting news! My forthcoming book of poetry, Space Between, will be available on December 1st, just in time for the holidays! I hope you will check it out and consider buying a copy for yourself, or more for your family or friends.
Writing poetry is not just a luxury for me; its a necessity. When spoken words fail me, poetry seeps from the most intimate spaces of my heart. Where there is confusion, I find clarity; where there is despair, I find hope; where I get lost in the past or future, I come home to the present. Poetry has been in my life since I was eight years old. Shortly after my memoir came out, my third grade writing teacher sent me a poem of mine she had held on to since I was her student. Seeing it reminded me of what a constant that form of expression has been for me—in my earliest years—and ever since.
I have been compiling poems over decades and finally decided it was time to put them into a book. I was touched that my writing teacher had saved that poem, so I included it and one other in the book, dyslexic spelling and all! Here it is as a preview:
“MUMY” AND ME
Mumy is so big and strong
if I’m whith Mumy, nothing can go rong.
I clench her big hand in my small one
and wish I was as big and strong as she
but then I think I would rather be me
besides someday I will be bigger than she.
Then I would look down at her
and she would look up at me
and then we’d smile
and then we’d lauf
and talk of old tims together
when she was big and I was small.
And here is one from my adulthood, also in Space Between.
A THREAD OF LOVE
Three years after my mother departed
I find myself again in her Little House
from where many of her adventures started.
A button has popped from my sleeve
and remembering her preparedness,
for things most people might not perceive,
I look for the usual basket
of wood or willow. There!
On the guest bedroom bureau I find it
with thread already in the needle,
knotted. And preparing to sew, I sit.
As the needle pierces the sleeve
I wonder if this was her last gift:
A thread of love to a mender of grief
whose sleeve got caught
climbing over some pasture fence.
She would have it ready for them
to help put back together
whatever came apart.
And as I sew I feel the mending
of a piece of my heart.
It is a particular pleasure to share this compilation of poetry with you as loyal readers of my Armchair Blog. You are a kind of extended family to me, sharing what matters. I love hearing from you and hope you will keep writing! While my poems don’t have the same questions-in-bold at the end, I hope they will elicit a similar response in your heart; a reminder of some image that you might have forgotten from your childhood, or earlier today; or a shared delight in pondering trees, that evoked your own kind of meaning. I hope my poems speak to you.
Do you write poetry?
If so, what are some of the reasons you write, and how does it serve you?
Dear Eileen, congratulations on your new book of poetry. How well you said the reasons, why and when you write them. Yes, I write too, when my soul starts speaking then I put that down in words. Looking forward to get one on this Christmas season!! Thank you for your thoughtful and inspiring blogs. Maka
I recognized your poet’s soul when I first met you Maka. Warmest wishes to you. Eileen
What a beautiful words you say! Thank you so much, Dear Eileen!
I write because it often makes me more aware of how I feel, what most matters to me, and more clearly picturing the threads of meaningful connection between me and others. Your poems created comforting and vivid word pictures Eileen Rockefeller. I hope you keep writing 🙂
It is wonderful how words can circle our feelings and help us land on our core. Thanks for sharing Kare.
Eileen – You are the nector to life as the flower is to the bee – refleshing and nurishing. Peace! John
Thanks John. You create poetry with your photographs! xoxo, Eileen
So exciting, Eileen! I LOVE the childhood poem! you were a master poet at a very young age! I cannot wait for the book to come out! Lili
Thanks Lili. I have to admit it was quite a surprise to find that poem! And nice that my spelling has improved since then! xoxox, Eileen
Oh Eileen . . . in a lifetime, I have found few other friends that share your depth of feeling — feelings so deeply felt and expressed that we feel at one with you. You have a gift that I have found is rare. And beyond wonderful. Your poems shared in your columns make us read once . . and then read again – and again. They resonate — and yes, they bind us close together.
Your book of poetry will be a gift to all of us. . and you know that I will be writing about and sharing this book with others. That I promise – as you must reach the widest audiences who know you also speak for them about the deepest things — “pieces of my heart” shared are universal! xoxo joan
Thank you for such warm encouragement Joan. It means a lot to me. I look forward to having some of my poems in one of your columns!
Hi Eileen, Congratulations on having published your first book of poetry, “Space Between”. The cover is lovely and the poems you have shared on your blog are heartfelt, expressing your inner world of love and loss. It is to your credit that you have found a “poetic voice” to express feelings, thoughts and whatever is on your mind. Staying strong=writing for you, whenever and about
whatever…Your photos are lovely, energetic, spontaneous and creative.
I was close to a bookshelf of mine which holds a few favorite poetry books from college courses, so I read about a dozen poems, after reading your blog, and smiled at Yeats and Frost, my tiny hand written margin notes and selections of poems. Poems get one “there”, quickly… Novels take so much time! Short stories carry a SURPRISE!
Hope you write about your holiday plans on your blog and continue to share news. brrr…winter is ringing its holiday bells. HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
Dear Elaine. Wow! Yeats and Frost! Two great poets. I loved reading them in college and still occasionally turn to both of them. Thanks for the reminder. Stay warm!
BEAUTIFUL POETRY! From childhood, I can feel the warmth, perception and sensitivity in you. These are God-given, inborn qualities that make you, YOU! And, what draws me near, in person and in verse.
Every line expresses so much. Every thought, a memory. Every word, a reminder. Of familiar people and places. Of another time. Of Love. Of your heart. I look forward to treating myself to your enchanting book and shall bring it along next time, to sign, to share and to savor.
In thinking about the past few years, our aging parents, our losses of people and pets that we so deeply and dearly loved and will NEVER forget, I penned a little poem, inspired by you and your poetry, that I’d like to share, now:
Life
is for living;
But rainbows come after rain,
And, eternity need not be feared,
For it’s only a rainbow away. . .
Dear Phyll, that’s a lovely image – “only a rainbow away.” Thanks for sharing from your own warm heart. I hope you make it up hear sometime this winter!
Wonderful news, Eileen.
Thanks Paul. I hope you enjoy the poems when they come out!