Welcome to where I am, where my kitchen's always messy, a pot's (or a poet) always about to boil over, a dog is always begging to be fed. Drafts of poems on the counter. Windows filled with leaves. Wind. Clouds moving over the mountains. If you like poetry, books, and music--especially dog howls when a siren unwinds down the hill-- you'll like it here.


MY NEW AUTHOR'S SITE, KATHRYNSTRIPLINGBYER.COM, THAT I MYSELF SET UP THROUGH WEEBLY.COM, IS NOW UP. I HAD FUN CREATING THIS SITE AND WOULD RECOMMEND WEEBLY.COM TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN SETTING UP A WEBSITE. I INVITE YOU TO VISIT MY NEW SITE TO KEEP UP WITH EVENTS RELATED TO MY NEW BOOK.


MY NC POET LAUREATE BLOG, MY LAUREATE'S LASSO, WILL REMAIN UP AS AN ARCHIVE OF NC POETS, GRADES K-INFINITY! I INVITE YOU TO VISIT WHEN YOU FEEL THE NEED TO READ SOME GOOD POEMS.

VISIT MY NEW BLOG, MOUNTAIN WOMAN, WHERE YOU WILL FIND UPDATES ON WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MY KITCHEN, IN THE ENVIRONMENT, IN MY IMAGINATION, IN MY GARDEN, AND AMONG MY MOUNTAIN WOMEN FRIENDS.




Saturday, April 4, 2009

Sunrise, Clear Sky

This morning dawns clear and cold. Not a cloud in the sky after a week of either rain or what I calle "mizzle." The world outside looks like it's just stepping out of a long bath. The trees I calll my "white ladies" are drying off, letting their long torsos shine in the sun.



Two days ago in a seminar the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching called "The Power of Words," I wrote a short poem about them.

My white ladies wait
this morning,

just risen from their baths,
shoulders dusted

with powder my mother
loved--White Linen--

drying themselves
in the sun rising over

the mountins draped in fog
like their negligees.

5 comments:

The Whole Bunch said...

Kay, I love the poem AND your "ladies." Feel as if I know them. Oh to have been a part of that seminar with you and the beauty of NCCAT and Cullowhee. The one thing I don't like about retirement is not being able to attend another seminar. I am writing, but too slow and too unsure of myself. Hope you and your family (and puppies, of course) are doing well. Love, Teresa

Vicki Lane said...

Lovely poem, Kay. Are the white ladies sycamores? Such beautiful trees. And what a beautiful day we're having!

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Teresa, the seminar was good but would have been better if you had been there. You should send me some of your new poems. And Vicki, I couldn't agree more about the day. It's been gorgeous, made moreso by what's sprouting in our garden. Tomorrow I have to thin the lettuce and chard. The red russian kale is up!
We had beet greens tonight--first time I've tried them. Sprinkled toasted almonds over. They were so good that i wish we had more. I hope our beets work this year.

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Vicki, yes, they are sycamores, in Europe known as plane trees. I love the way they look and how their name sounds.

doris diosa said...

i agree - "Lovely poem," Kay, and yes, it *is* wet down here. i should go photograph the Flint River for you.
Hugs. / Thank you.