Happy Birthday to Mining the Bright Birds!
With gifts to celebrate!
Dew Change
The chickadees chatter and chirrup "a cheep, cheep
chick-a-dee-dee!" bullying for position on the fence
post. Breakfast arguments translate as, "Hey, no cuts!"
Doesn't matter there's an over-spilling feeder--ravenous
birds seem blind with hunger. It's a change-of-weather
morning where dew rests in places normally occupied
by sunshine. Old Sol’s arc lower in the sky by several degrees
still, the latitude informs a different slant of light.
The day’s beginning chill lingers in the air, a reminder
of last-year-this-time, like an old dream of seasons before,
coming on the morning of a new awakening.
Mining the Bright Birds is One Year Old
“Dew Change” is a poem in the section called “Tuning” in my book Mining the Bright Birds, a collection that released a year ago this month from Wipf & Stock/Resource. The time has flown—I’ve shared the poems online in a Zoom Book Club—that was fun! and mailed out copies to interested folks (even more fun!)
I wrote a short reflection last year about the journey of how MBB became a book much sooner than I expected; you can read it HERE.
But now it’s time to celebrate the MBB Bookaversary with you.
Everyone who answers the question below and leaves a Comment By Thursday Aug 29th will be eligible to receive a signed copy of Mining the Bright Birds: Poems of Longing for Home. (And maybe a surprise windowpane watercolor bookmark.)
Here’s your question to be eligible for the drawing: If your life was a book, what would be the title?
Will Parker Anderson, host of The Writer’s Circle Podcast, posed that question recently and it intrigued me so I decided to borrow it.
It will be fun to read YOUR answers in the Comments. The winner will be chosen randomly by my 5 year old granddaughter and announced in my next Substack post in September. Talk about feeling wistful…. September???
And if you’d simply like to order a copy of either of my poetry books via the bookseller of your choice, here’s a link to the Books page on my Author website.
Thank you!
My Interview with Karen Swallow Prior of The Priory
In other news, the gracious and gifted Karen Swallow Prior recently featured interviews with writers on her Substack, The Priory, discussing Publishing, Platform and Perspective. I shared about my journey to self-publishing in particular, tracing the path to my first book, Hearts on Pilgrimage. You’ll find the interview here.
It has been so rewarding to connect with many new readers through Karen’s open door. So hello to those who are new here! Also, Subscribers who just joined us here at Poetry & Made Things will find some great Poetry Resources here on this tab. You’ll find Curated Poetry lists of poetry books for kids and those who love them, Female Faith Poets, poetry how-to’s and more!
That’s all for now. Remember to respond to the “If Your Life Was a Book” question!
Talk soon~Jody
It would be “Tell me a story.”
It's fun to read everyone's titles! The phrase Through My Eyes has been rattling around in my head lately, so I'll go with that as my title. Happy book birthday, Jody!