Happy Poetry Friday! Our host for this week’s round-up is Tanita on her blog, Fiction, instead of Lies. For links to more poetry, be sure to visit her page.
Many of you know I’ve been staying with my Dad in his home in Brockport New York for the last two-plus weeks. Last week, while I was running errands (mostly to the grocery store), I went to an independent bookstore.
I bought a poetry book written by Buffalonians. I thought I would relate to it, as I told you in last week’s post. I have not. Much of the poetry is obtuse and hard to process. Some of it deals with drugs and identity issues which I have not experienced myself.
But I did find one poem by Janna Willoughby-Lohr, published in My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry (2017) that I could relate to. It is called THIS IS OUR ADDRESS and about her receiving her deceased mother’s mail ten years after her death.
The third stanza reads:
"And it's bitter and savory that I'll be moving soon
and will no longer get the mail at this address and
I won't have to feel guitly for missing the book sale,
I just feel guilty for moving away."
The house I am in with my Dad is not one of the two houses I lived in growing up. He and my mom moved from that house 20 years ago, well after I became an adult and had moved away. And, living in Wisconsin, I don’t receive mail addressed to my parents.
But, I do get mail addressed to each of our sons at our cabin where my husband and I live now. We never got mail there until our permanent move to the Northwoods in 2022. I find myself not knowing what to do with our sons’ mail – I save it to give to them. I save it because I’m their mom, just like Janna was saving her mom’s mail.
The poem goes on to state that the author will keep a few pieces of her mom’s mail because she cannot bring herself to toss her name into the waste can and prolong efforts to let mom linger longer in her house.
I found the poem poignant and expressive, bringing emotions of time and loss to the surface.
I am also here to tell you that the round-up for next week, 12/6/2024 is here at The Apples in My Orchard! I am planning to host despite returning to Wisconsin this week to check in at our home before returning to be with my Dad for the Christmas Holidays. I hope to see you all!
On My Medium Page This Week
I wrote about our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday at my Dad’s house. It has yet to be published, when it is, I will post a link to it on this page.
Ways I’m extending my writing
I am looking into writing on Substack. Do any of you do this? If so, what is your niche? Do you have any advice for me before I start? Right now, this is just an idea. I’ve done some reading on doing it – including a newsletter, specialized content (environmental education or EE), and more. Of course, when (if) I decide to do it, I wonder if you’d sign up (free) with your email.
My idea is to offer EE lesson plans and curricula (all I’ve written and used with students) both as an introductory offer (no fee) and later, if I gather enough email followers, as part of exclusive content for subscribers. Let me know what you think. I’m interested in your thoughts.
The largest issue to consider is the work this will produce and whether I want to commit to providing the content. It will require a different use of my time than my writing does now. I do have legitimate authority to provide the lessons as I wrote them and used them with students. My formal education includes a master’s degree in environmental education.
The Apples in My Orchard 
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