CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

 Welcome! Lorelie and I know that many of you look forward to reading Cathy’s poems on the NESTER.  “Town Square” will motivate you to think about your life and the people you have known along the way.  If you are new to Cathy’s poems or to poetry, you will find Cathy’s poems are “. . . playful and poignant, with themes of loss and renewal . . . and reveal the unexpected layers within an ordinary life.”

Welcome and thank you for joining Lorelie and me in savoring and appreciating another poem from Cathy Ross. 

Quoting from the back cover of WHAT THE TULIPS SAID: Cathy’s poems are ” . . . playful and poignant, with themes of loss and renewal . . . and reveal the unexpected layers within an ordinary life.”

Author Donald Kemp wrote of Cathy’s poetry. “Cathy Ross’s poems achieve balance between reflections on the natural world, personal loss, love, mortality, and family life, all artfully stitched together and crafted.  . . . I sat a long while after finishing her book, reluctant to break its spell.”

Cathy’s poems are always a welcome addition to the NESTER, and FROG SONGS continues the NESTER’S  emphasis on the significance and the beauty of the earth.  In several of Cathy’s poems, the poet begins with a description of nature and then turns to a personal response to what she observes. The observation and contemplation of nature connects and adds meaning to the poet’s life!

You are invited to read Dave Wagar’s poem and view his painting from a card sent to friends in late January.  After an initial scanning of the  painting and poem, Lorelie and Tim returned to them and spent more time with them. Dave’s art moved them through its imagery and meaning. These are special and you too will appreciate and  be moved by them.

Dave has Parkinson’s and several of his senses are impaired. These works of art are personal and have meaning for all of us.

You are welcomed to the twelfth and final letter of Carole Gibb’s Fishing for Courage – Mishaps and Magic on Alaska’s Outer Coast. In letter eleven, Carole found herself unsure about what to do with her life and deciding to return to the outer coast.  With a revised plan in mind she returns to the outer coast to begin the adventure of pursuing her dream,

In Carole’s Alaska Letter 10, she asked the question, “Why can’t I have a conventional life and be satisfied with that?”  A question many of us have asked ourselves while imagining our future lives.
In this letter, Carole searches for answers to help her make decisions about how to live her life.

Mike Cohen, a poet, story
teller, and novelist returns to the NESTER with a new poem, My Child’s Recovery From a Fall, previously unpublished.  It fascinates us that each of Mike’s  poems is dramatically different from the others and this poem is no exception.  My Child’s Recovery From a Fall dwells on what might happen when a child lets go of the parent’s hand and climbs on monkey bars, first rides a bike without training wheels or dashes off on her own into the unknown. There’s always risk involved.  Most of the writing about children’s accidents centers on the child’s experience and what is the appropriate response from the parent. Less is written about what the parent is experiencing during the event.  

We resonate with this poem and so will you!

Mike’s poems, short stories and novel excerpts have appeared in several literary magazines. In addition to writing award winning short stories selected for publication, his stories have been anthologized and reviewed. Mike also authored a coming of age, legal thriller, RIVERTOWN HEROES, set in the Northwest.

Cathy’s poem, “TELEPHONE OF THE WIND”  rings a bell with me during the holidays when we are planning the season’s festivities. We  remember past friends and family no longer with us and often wish we had expressed . . .

Matt Wakefield and John Prentice wrote this about a phone located in the woods. “The concept could not be simpler or more profound: Place a disconnected telephone in the woods, available to anyone who needs to talk to someone who cannot hear them.”

As often happens in Cathy’s poems, she takes what she is experiencing and turns it in an unexpected direction…

Enjoy the poem,

In a recent NESTER post, Maureen published FOUR SUMMER HAIKU. You are invited to read her TWO FALL HAIKU and pause for a few minutes to discover where your imagination takes you in interpreting the haiku.
“I’ve always been attracted to this form and enjoy the mental challenge of working with the five, seven, five syllable structure. I love nature and Haiku are traditionally meant to evoke the natural world so that’s another reason I’m drawn to this form of poetry.”

Mike Cohen returns to the NESTER with a prose piece you will find timely to the fall season.  It’s late October and the holidays and new year are only around the corner. A time, perhaps, to reflect on the past year and a project enthusiastically added to a new year’s resolution that remains unfinished and nagging at us to get it done. Might be a project like a scrapbook, a garden addition,  recipes to prepare, or a skiff to build in the garage.  There is still something there in the mess that begs to be finished.

You must read it to the end to discover a surprising solution!