Ridge and Rhyme

 After 20 years of working in one form of library or another, I feel I am sort of an expert on nicely published books. You can tell when a publisher cares about the work that they are putting out in the world. The book feels well made, the cover art is nice, the author's photo is well done. Sometimes, you get colored edges, deckled edges, a built in ribbon bookmark. While I appreciate those books for their appearance, I prefer smaller press books especially when it comes to poetry collections and chapbooks.  I simply cannot resist a stapled together chapbook hand created by the poet themselves. I always feel the treasure inside is more rare than something that is published by one of those big publishers. I also feel better knowing that I can support a poet and their work more directly. I have two favorite publishers in North Carolina that I will buy from directly: Press 53 - Based out of Winston Salem, Press 53 has published some of my favorite authors - Adrien Rice, Cathy Sm...

 I never knew that my city-boy husband was a porch-sitter until we moved back to WNC. One night, he started going outside to smell the honeysuckle perfumed air and watch the lightning bugs. I followed him because I'm nosy and wanted to know what he was doing out there.  And that is how the tradition started: two middle-aged people having a porch-sit. The lessons learned from a front porch are many - let me list them for you: 1) Yes that skunk that sprayed our house is very much still alive. 2) The glow from a lightning bug is warm and glimmers. 3) Yes, that is a bat swooping from the trees. 4) That bird sounds like a laser gun. 5) Our neighbor drives his wife home from work every night at 9pm. 6) Is that a stick or a snake in the yard?  7) Listening to the evening quiet down into night helps my brain go into rest mode. 8) Night really isn't that quiet, the sounds are just different. 9) Bare feet are warmed best by a concrete porch. 10) The way he opens his hand to let a l...

Eventually, Haiku by Scott Owens   Illustrated by Missy Cleveland   Redhawk Publications It started as a conversation we'd have on a trail, should we move back to WNC now or wait? I had a great job but every day the stress tore more and more deeply into me. The city we lived in was no longer an urban delight, my commute got longer and longer. In December, we decided that 2026 was going to be the year, our big escape. We thought by May or June maybe I would get a job offer. Instead, the slow retreat became a fevered dash, we had three weeks to not only move but downsize. By May, we'd sold our house and were fully in our new life. What joy, what luck, but also, what a rollercoaster ride!   It felt fitting to reach for a book of haiku during such a turbulent time. It also felt fitting for it to be written by Scott Owens. I can't think of anyone else who has done more for poetry in the Hickory area and most likely WNC. My brain was fried from the busyness of moving a...