National Poetry Month - meet poet Barbara Edwards

Barbara Edwards

I’m Barbara Edwards and I’m so happy to celebrate National Poetry Month with you.  In fifth grade, Mrs. Robinson assigned a poem a week to memorize and I began my love-affair with the beauty of the written word. If you gave me time, I could still recite many of those poems and tell you what they mean to me. It was a wonderful gift from a wonderful teacher. 

STEPH: How long have you been writing poetry?

BARBARA: Since I was a young girl, so it’s been a life-long love.

My poems are about me, my feelings, my emotions, so I never tried to have any of them published.

STEPH:What type of poetry do you like to write? free form? villianelles? Quatrains, Sonnets, hiakus, etc...

BARBARA: Oh my, what a selection of types. Since I wrote for my pleasure, I never settled on a specific format. I did what sounded best to me. Probably free form fist my best.

STEPH: Who is your favorite poet?

BARBARA: I love Robert Frost, another New England native.

STEPH: What is your favorite poem and why?

BARBARA: Frost’s “The Road Less Traveled” is one of my favorites.

 

STEPH: Can you share a poem of yours or two with us? 

**copyright notice** 

The poems on the blog are copyrighted to the author. Do not use without permission from the author

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BARBARA So many poems, so little space. How about these? 

    

        Winnie

The damned cat died.

Old age, I suppose,

That mangy hair-ball.

Remember her silly kitten act?

Chasing dust balls from under the bed

To scatter tatters across the rug

And sneeze pieces clinging to her whiskers.

How many times did she drop an offering

At my feet or on the back step?

Mighty hunter of baby birds and mice

And once a two foot long snake.

Grooming in a ray of sunlight,

She’d stare contemptuously at my entrance

When I opened the door

Her tongue a tiny pink raspberry.

A purring lump against the small of my back

On cold,  lonely nights.

Her raspy tongue would lick my chin

And tickle before I pushed her away.

So the damned cat died.

And I’m putting her ragged toys,

Bowl and collar into a brown bag.

To dispose of. Maybe.

I’ll miss the damned cat.

Much more than I ever miss you.

So tomorrow I’ll get another kitten,

Although I can’t think why.

Tonight there is an empty doorstep,

And a cold hollow at the small of my back.

And I’ll cry again, for both of you.

But mostly because the damned cat died. 

Or for a change

   TRAVELER

Come

Join me on my journey

Share a way with me

A mile, a league, a pace or two

Time matters not, I am with you.

At a twist in the path

Where a fork split the way

Hushed by the silence

My soul heard yours say

Don’t hurt me, Don’t love me,

Don’t leave me alone...

The words didn’t match

Your expression of stone.

With laughter, caresses, I gave gentle care

Fearful myself, I gave what I dare.

Confused by my feelings,

Lacking a map, sign or guide,

I need to move onward,

Come, walk at my side.

Thanks for hosting me Stephanie. I enjoyed it. Barbara

Please visit me at www.barbaraedwards.net for excerpts from my books,

Buy links and free reads.

If you like my poems, I’ll post a few more on my site.