My Poetry Weekend

Susan Pearson, Rebecca Dotlich and Alice Shertle

I am still coming down from the clouds after spending Thursday through Sunday with three poetry mavens (pictured above) and a new group of poetry loving friends. The weekend was nothing short of fabulous, from the accommodations and food to the company kept.

Here's where I stayed.

See my name in the window?

Quaint and not a TV in sight--a very peaceful place to write.

This was the nest hanging near my porch.

The spot was lovely, but it was the people who made it so memorable. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to be immersed in poetry with others who feel such an affinity for it. We read, we ate (oh boy did we eat!), we wrote and shared. The sharing among members of a small, supportive group was what made this so worthwhile. I wrote and rewrote a lot of poems. Here are two I wrote about writing poetry. The first is a quatrain. The second a triolet.

I wrestle nouns, put verbs in place
scribble, scratch, delete, erase,
until I've found the words that fit
then check the meter--oh sh*t!


Why bare your soul upon the page?
Why poetry at all?
Must stories pass from age to age?
Why bare your soul upon the page?
Do you believe the world's a stage?
Will civilizations fall?
Why bare your soul upon the page?
Why poetry at all?

I will be forever grateful to Rebecca Dotlich, Susan Pearson, and Alice Shertle for sharing themselves so generously with us. Their knowledge of and love for poetry placed us all in the most capable hands. I am extremely fortunate to have met and worked with them. Thank you, ladies, for everything!

They made me stand tall in more ways than one!