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.




Monday, April 19, 2010

POET OF THE DAY:BANU VALLADARES



A native of Venezuela, Banu Valladares graduated with a masters degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she taught composition. She has taught poetry, play writing, creative writing, and Latino culture in public schools. A poet, writer, painter, and storyteller, she has spoken at local and national conferences on the importance of people discovering their native voice in order to find a unique place in society. She has been the director of Community Arts Education and Partnerships at the Durham Arts Council, where she oversaw the CAPS (Creative Arts in Public/Private School) program, which provides creative and interactive programs that teach core subjects through the arts and DAC's Art School. She now serves as Literature Director for the North Carolina Arts Council.

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I hear voices more and more

Often these days

Remote

Ancient



I make them out in my head

In languages

I fully

Understand



Like cascading water in

The wilderness

Resonating

Through the body



Songs of love and adventure

Hearts full of bright

Joy

Chords



Reaching from distant spaces

Across oceans

And time

To be



Heard once more



___________________________________________________________________________________________

The following appeared on the NC Arts Council website in 2006.

Love

In the midst of your day
When you stop to
thank the universe for the blessings you have received,

At that moment
when you
look out the window and marvel at creation

When you stop to
gather your breath and
fall right back into your body,
into the present moment

At that point

Feel my arms around you
And hear me whisper in your ear:
"I love you."

For all is perfect in the world
when we freeze in time and listen
to the beat of our hearts.



Amor

En el medio de tu día
Cuando pares para
Darle las gracias al universo por los dones que has recibido,

En ese momento
cuando
mires por la ventana maravillado en la creación

Cuando pares para
Recuperar tu aliento y
Dejarte caer de nuevo en tu cuerpo
Al presente

En ese momento

Siente mis brazos alrededor de ti
Y escúchame suspirar en tu oído:
"Te amo."

Porque todo está perfecto en el mundo
Cuando congelamos el tiempo y escuchamos
El latido de nuestros corazones.

5 comments:

Vicki Lane said...

Beautiful -- and thanks for posting the Spanish too -- nice to see the two together. Love that freezing in time line!

Vicki Lane said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jessie Carty said...

thanks for introducing me to another new poem! i wish i could read spanish. such a beautiful language :)

Lyn said...

Beautiful simplicity..can feel those loving arms!

Lorenzo — Alchemist's Pillow said...

Hi, Kathryn. Does Banu have a blog? I am interested in her story, particularly her idea of people finding their native voice as a means of finding their place in society. I, too, was born in Venezuela, although I left there at a very early age (5) to go to the US. I do all my writing in English, although most of of my living and thinking (and feeling?) in Spanish, now that I have been living in Spain for 25 years. The subject of people's whose lives and personalities span more than one language is of interest to me, along with the difficulties of translating poetry.