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Poetry Wednesday: “The Grass, the Earth”
I’m headed down to NYC to catch a concert and to celebrate a pending birthday. This poem has been in my computer for a couple of years, fussed with and ignored in equal measure, so figured I’d throw it out there. Just because.
–
THE GRASS, THE EARTH
–
he was puttering in the yard
spreading fertilizer w/ a coffee can
alone except for the failing sun
& all that sky above
–
what did he think when his heart
gave out?
was there that flash of knowing bright as foil
the glimmering chord of a twelve-string
struck? a chime of bells,
what the bells told:
—————–death on the lawn,
they tolled him
so
–
I imagine
he lay half-broken, half-dreaming
“I’ll take tiger mountain by dawn . . .”
—–& maybe find a little boat
conjure some small craft to carry me
across
——-((be sure to place pennies on my lids
to pay the ferryman
& so with a push set out splash upon the water
yes always drawn to that liquid space
of the mind, & the lively open air
–
maybe toss a line, see what bites
heading home, heading out — wind
in the face! –- hold near, hold steady
to that resting
place
–
——& splat I fell flat asunder
chopped down like an old oak, timber!
rotten to the core — damnedest thing, damnedest thing
I ever saw
–
did he gaze at a last white rock
& finally see the thing true & clear or say
an ant climbing a blade or
the clouds gray & immense above or
think of her
———–his wife his love his life
Annie watching television unawares
chomping on her famous glass of ice or
smell deep the grass, the earth
so rich the loam, so glad the glade
kind of amazing when you get right down
to it
–
—–the lateness of the hour . . .
—-
cue the fading
lights, curtains
New Beginnings
I love the idea of a new year, of turning the page and fresh beginnings, old failures pushed away and forgotten, a clean slate, room with space enough for wild new hope to grow.
Happy new year everybody.
I want to post about my 2011 Word of the Year — authentic — but don’t have time to get to it today. But that focus, those thoughts, really do connect to today’s post. I’m writing to share a really tremendous review of Bystander that I found on the blog, Teen Book Discussion . . . All Grown Up. It was almost spooky reading it, in a Twilight Zone kind of way, because it’s as if the reviewer, Brandy, climbed into my head and absolutely understood why I wrote the book the way I did.
It’s just so validating to have someone get out of a book what you, as the author, think you put into it. Click here to read the whole dang review.
The money quote:
This is the most realistic look at middle-school bullying I’ve read. It’s not a flattering portrait, but it is realistic, and I think that’s important. By “realistic,” I mean that the kids mock the “don’t be a bully” assembly; our hero admits that the kid being bullied sort of asks for it, even though that doesn’t make it right; school administration talks a good game but ultimately the bullying persists; in the end, the bully is still a bully, he’s just moved on to different targets. Because of its realism, I think this would make a great book for discussion and I’d love to see it replace the hokey Revealers that’s currently the 7th grade Required Summer Reading book. Unfortunately, because of its realism, I don’t think that will happen — much better to leave kids with the idea that three outcasts can write letters to their classmates about being bullied and not be mercilessly teased for it, or that lots of people sharing their stories of being bullied will make the bullies have this epiphany and suddenly become choir boys. Ahem.
Fan Mail Wednesday #99 (Friday Edition)
Wow, I am so busy I can’t believe it. I am still revising my new YA, going on school visits, brainstorming-slash-scribbling a first draft for a new MG novel (so excited about this one!), planning Skype visits, and, yes, reading and trying to answer fan mail. Very, very time-consuming.
I’ve also been slogging along with my new blog project, Fathers Read. I’ve been getting some fabulous, wonderful, incredible photos and now have a pretty impressive array. While I’m eager to get this new blog up and running, some minor technical difficulties have slowed me down. I’m shooting for early December.
In the meantime, check out this spectacular letter from a third-grader named Kate:
Dear James Preller,
I am a big fan of your Jigsaw Jones books. I even asked my friend if she wanted to be detectives in the color code at first she did not know what a color code was but then I told her what it is. My favorite Jigsaw Jones book is The Case of the Class Clown! I have probably read more than ten jigsaw jones books. Because the jigsaw jones books are so cool and when I read them it feels like I am in the book just watching it all. And because the words that you use are so clear that they paint very clear and very nice pictures in my head. I have a question where do you get all you ideas from? Did you ever want to be a detective when you were little or did someone else in your family want to? Please write back.
Your fan,
Kate
I replied:
Thanks for that beautiful note. I began to melt when you described how the words “paint very clear and very nice pictures” in your head. You have a gift for words, Kate. Keep on writing.
I think all good writers dream of achieving something like that, where the reader can see the story, like a movie playing inside your head. And we do that, I think, by writing clearly and directly and by using specific details. When we “show, don’t tell.” It’s something I work at very hard, though I don’t pretend to be some amazing, fantastic writer. I learn something new every day and try my best, always.
Hey, did you know that Class Clown is now a touring musical? With songs and everything! How crazy is that?! I don’t know where you live, but if you go here you can find out the current tour schedule.
My ideas come from a run-down, ramshackle store in Rutherford, New Jersey. Twice a year I travel by emu to . . .
No, not really.
Much of my writing springs from my life and my family experiences. I grew up the youngest of seven children, and now I have three children of my own. You know, it’s funny. I once imagined that writers had these amazing lives, full of adventure and exotic places. But I’ve learned that the real adventure is what goes on inside your head, and in the rumblings of your heart, and that we can write about the most ordinary details and somehow connect with thousands and thousands of readers.
And, okay, sure — sometimes I just MAKE THINGS UP!
I’m glad you liked the color code. What’s great about that code is that it’s so easy to invent new codes based on the same idea. Here’s a “clothes code” (just invented on the spot):
lazy frog socks your scarf email
photo pages silly underwear message black
pants made bag pizza puzzle troop
bird hat me underwater elbow mittens
super slim burp shirt happy bling!
I was never a detective like Jigsaw, though I spied on my brothers quite often and became very good at snooping around for presents during the holidays.
By the time Christmas came, I had usually discovered each of my presents — hidden in closets and under beds — and that always make the actual Christmas Day a little bit of a disappointment. I already knew what I was going to get!
My best,
JP
P.S. Kate, you might be curious to see a video I made, where I answered a different piece of fan mail. Nice sweater, don’t you think?
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School Library Journal Reviews “Justin Fisher Declares War!”
My Scholastic editor, Shannon Penney, just passed along the upcoming SLJ review for Justin Fisher Declares War! After so much time went by since the August 1 publication, I just assumed that they had either: 1) ignored it; or 2) reviewed it, hated it, and Shannon spared me the sorrow. (Yes, that’s how I roll.) But no, this review is actually pretty nice.
“Dignity!” — I liked that word. Thank you, Terry Ann Lawler of Phoenix, Arizona!
PRELLER, James. Justin Fisher Declares War! 135p. CIP. Scholastic. 2010. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-545-03301-5. LC 2009053641.
Gr 4-6–Justin Fisher is lonely. Last year, he was the class clown; now, in fifth grade, he’s somehow turned into the class jerk. His antics in school and out are not getting him laughs–they’re getting him in trouble. As he is sent to the principal again and again, he becomes more and more desperate to fit in. Fortunately, with the help of an understanding teacher and a new friend, the boy learns how to be funny without being mean and saves the day at the school talent show. This quiet, universal story about a regular kid acting out who just needs a hand will make a good classroom read. Preller handles sensitive issues with dignity, and kids will identify with Justin’s eagerness to be liked and his snarky jokes. The book will be a particular hit with fans of Lenore Look’s Alvin Ho and Jerry Spinelli’s Maniac Magee.–Terry Ann Lawler, Phoenix Public Library, AZ
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