One Book Winner Cassie Premo Steele Leads Community Discussion on Her Novel Beaver Girl

On Tuesday, August 27th, Cassie Premo Steele will offer insight into her 2023 novel Beaver Girl during her author’s talk at All Good Books (734 Harden St). 

The Jasper Project, in conjunction with One Columbia, and All Good Books, announced Steele’s novel as the selected community reading for the 2024 One Book project earlier this year.

One Book was first adopted by Columbia in 2011, modeled after the One Book, One Community project that started in the Seattle public library system in 1998. The goal is to highlight literary art by South Carolina authors and to emphasize a sense of community around storytelling. 

Beaver Girl is “set against the backdrop of a post-pandemic and climate-collapsed world” as it follows 19-year-old Livia through a journey with a beaver family in Congaree National Park. The story both reveals the unique role of beavers in the world’s ecosystem and the “redemption, resilience, and interconnectedness of all living beings.” 

Next week’s Community Book Discussion will give readers of the book a chance to pick Steele’s brain and interrogate the themes of the story. Even locals who have not had an opportunity to read the book can take advantage of the evening to get to know a local author and learn more about this community-oriented project. 

Jasper talked with Steele ahead of the event to find out just why this event is so vital—both as part of this project and beyond.

 

JASPER: Why does this discussion matter to you as an author?

STEELE: For the past five months, the 2024 One Book Project has hosted events giving people the opportunity to read and learn about the themes in Beaver Girl. I’ve led workshops on beaver ecology and ethics from Congaree National Park to Oregon and Washington State. I’ve engaged in panel discussions about the novel with beaver scholar Emily Fairfax online and a host of scholars and activists here in our community at the Nickelodeon Theater. And I’ve given classes on writing “the code of the water way” to writers and science educators from across the states of Oklahoma and South Carolina. 

Tuesday’s discussion, though, will be a homecoming, returning back to the local bookstore where the Jasper Project, One Columbia for Arts and Culture, and All Good Books chose Beaver Girl for this year’s community reading selection. And as the characters Livia and Chap learn in Beaver Girl, there’s no place like home. 


JASPER: Why might people want to get a behind the scenes look for this book specifically? 


STEELE: The community book discussion will be an opportunity for people to share stories about their fears about environmental disasters and the losses the pandemic and political upheavals have caused — themes addressed in the novel— but also their [positive] experiences with the natural world, their strategies for self-care and connection, and their hopes for a future where we enjoy the abundant richness of diversity in our human and more than human communities. 

 

JASPER: Why should people take the time to meet local artists? 

STEELE: We have a rich, diverse city filled with creative people, and we live in a unique biosphere region that is unlike anything else on earth. The book shows us how we can learn to live together in harmonious ways — and what can happen if we do not. 


JASPER: Why should the community be excited for this event, specifically?

STEELE: In the end, Beaver Girl is really a book about family and community. Who do we love? How can we learn to trust again after great trauma? What members of our community need care, and how can we be open to communicating with those who are different from us? The moderator of our discussion, Ruth Smyrle, took care of my stepdaughter when she was a baby, so there’s an element of family woven into the event itself. I hope people will feel that reading and discussing Beaver Girl gives them an opportunity to feel part of a beautiful and diverse community. 

 

The Community Book Discussion will be Tuesday, August 27, from 6:00pm—7:30pm at All Good Books.

If you can’t make it on the 27th you can also meet Steele at one of the following events:

  • Monday, September 9 at 6:30-7:30 PM - Queer-Themed Book Discussion with Cassie Premo Steele, Author of Beaver Girl, Moderated by Maggie Olszewski, Queer Poet and Employee at All Good Books, to be held at The Hoot, 2910 Rosewood Drive, Suite 1, Columbia SC

  • Saturday, September 7 at 10 AM-12 PM - Summer Forest Journaling with the Author of Beaver Girl and Earth Joy Writing at Congaree National Park : Free but space is limited. Register here.

  • Tuesday, September 17 6:00-7:30 PM - All Booked Up, the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium’s Coastal Reading Club for formal, non-formal, or homeschool educators, discussing Beaver Girl. Online. More info here.

  • Sunday, September 22 at 3:00-6:00 PM - ONE BOOK 2024 Round-Up Party and Potluck Dinner with BYOB. Music, Art, DJ, Poetry, Cozy Conversations and Hugs! One Columbia Co-Op, 1013 Duke Avenue, Columbia, SC

 

Jasper Project Board Member AL BLACK Creates New Poem to Celebrate Announcement of ONE BOOK 2024 Novel - BEAVER GIRL by CASSIE PREMO STEELE

In honor of the announcement of Cassie Premo Steele’s novel, BEAVER GIRL, as the selection for the ONE BOOK 2024 community reading project, we asked Jasper Project board of directors member and local poetry guru, Al Black, to read Beaver Girl and craft a poem in response to the message of the book. Al did not disappoint! Please read Al’s poem, and the signature poem for this project, The Remembering, below, then pick up your own copy of Beaver Girl, and write a poem, paint a picture, or create a piece of music in your response to the book and enter it in the Jasper Project’s THE ART OF ONE BOOK 2024 Arts Contest.

The Remembering

 

Leave your shoes here on the stump.

Go forward on bare feet,

step through into the Remembering.

 

The ground will know you.

The mycelium will announce your approach. 

Next to the beaver pond remove your gown.

 

Sit naked on the bank. Tonight is the Leaving of the Kits. 

The recitation of old stories 

of Livia, Chap and their families

 

Tales of a time when humans and beavers 

spoke the same language 

and learned to live together, again.

 

Tonight, young beavers must leave their parents

make space and time for the next litter.

They may invite you to swim 

 

to the far side of the pond with them.

There they will leave the water 

and begin their journey to new streams.

 

Not all of your sisters or all of the kits will remember, 

but if they listen,

they will feel memories of the Healing Time 

 

that came after the Great Dying Away. 

And maybe - if you are blessed,

you will remember and believe the old stories of a beaver girl

 

and that ancient laws of preservation are based in truth.

The door of enchantment is only open a short time

so do not question me, remove your shoes and enter the Remembering.

 

Al Black, 04/21/2024 

 

Announcing the Jasper Project's THE ART OF ONE BOOK 2024 CONTEST for Literary, Visual, and Musical Arts!

The Art of ONE BOOK 2024 – Cassie Premo Steele’s BEAVER GIRL!

Want to bring your own interpretation of 2024’s ONE BOOK  selection? The Jasper Project has an opportunity for YOU! Read Cassie Premo Steele’s Beaver Girl, then write a poem, paint a picture, or craft a piece of music with or without lyrics.

Entries

A panel of experts in the art of your entry will review submissions and choose winners in the following categories:

·         Poetry

·         Visual Art

·         Original Music

Winners will receive prizes, be featured in the Fall 2024 issue of Jasper Magazine, and be celebrated at the ONE BOOK 2024 Round-Up Party on Sunday, September 22nd at the One Columbia Co-op! DEADLINE JULY 1, 2024!

All submitted work must be original, family friendly, and capable of being performed or displayed in an outdoors setting. Both 2D and 3D work will be considered for the visual art competition.

Submission Instructions

Email your files to submissions@jasperproject.org. In the email please include your name, mailing address and phone number. Submissions are limited to 3 entries in each arts category.

Include the following attachments in your email:

·         Poetry – Word Document or PDF

·         Visual Art – Hi-res photos or scanned image of your work.

·         Music – MP3 or WAV (If files are under 150 mb you can attach them to the email). For larger files please send a Google drive, Dropbox or One Drive link. Youtube, Vimeo and Sound Cloud links are also fine.

Congaree National Park Spring Forest Wellness Journaling w/ ONE BOOK 2024's Cassie Premo Steele, author of Beaver Girl

Saturday, April 27, 2024

10:00 AM 12:00 PM

Harry Hampton Visitor Center - 100 National Park Road - Hopkins, SC, 29061

Cassie Premo Steele - author of Beaver Girl, the selected novel for ONE BOOK 2024

Journaling With Cassie Premo Steele, Author of Beaver Girl

Join us for our FREE Forest Wellness Program with Cassie Premo Steele, the author of the new novel, Beaver Girl, an environmental novel set in Congaree National Park. Relieve the stresses of your everyday life by taking the time to reconnect with nature and learn more about the importance of this special ecosystem. The program will include a 2-mile (round trip) meditative walk and a journaling workshop. In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to participate in mindful reflection, meditation, and journaling.

No previous experience is necessary, and all writing will be kept private. A free Congaree National Park journal and pen will be provided to registered participants.

Please meet at the Harry Hampton Visitor Center. All you need to participate is yourself, a water bottle, comfortable shoes, and comfortable clothing. Space is limited, so please sign up ahead of time. For questions or more information please email e-mail us

Pets are not permitted on this program, but service animals are welcome.

Registration is limited to 20 and opens March 26 on Eventbrite

Check out the Jasper Project’s ONE BOOK 2024 page for more info on additional ONE BOOK 2024 events

REGISTER HERE!

Cassie Premo Steele's BEAVER GIRL is the ONE BOOK 2024 Selection!

The Jasper Project, in partnership with One Columbia for Arts and Culture and All Good Books, is delighted to announce that Cassie Premo Steele’s novel BEAVER GIRL has been chosen as the community reading selection for the ONE BOOK 2024 Project.

Set against the backdrop of a post-pandemic and climate-collapsed world, Beaver Girl follows the journey of Livia, a 19-year-old confronting the aftermath of environmental upheaval. As wildfires encircle her, Livia seeks solace in Congaree National Park, where an unexpected alliance with a beaver family becomes a central theme in her fight for survival.

Steele skillfully intertwines elements of a morality tale, shedding light on humanity's role in climate disaster. The novel delves into the ecological significance of beavers as keystone species, emphasizing their ability to shape landscapes and create sustainable water sources.

Beaver Girl  transcends traditional genres, offering a narrative that explores themes of redemption, resilience, and the interconnectedness of all living beings. Anxiety and Outcast Press, through this joint venture, bring forth a powerful story that challenges readers to reflect on the consequences of environmental negligence.

Jasper, One Columbia, and All Good Books have joined hands to provide a summer-long celebration of the project with programming, readings, an arts competition, and a culminating project party in September.

Pick up your copy of BEAVER GIRL,* read along, and join us for the following free events!

*Beaver Gril is available at All Good Books, Liberation is Lit, Amason, Barnes & Noble & Bookshop.org

Jasper Recommended Last Minute Local Gifts for the Most Favored People on your Christmas List!

Why send your money to strangers when your gift purchases can help support local artists?

Jasper intern Liz Stalker has put together a list of gift suggestions she gleaned from researching the local market of arts presents and here are a few of her hot finds!

Prints, Stickers, and Paintings from Malik Greene!

Visit Red Bubble to find everything from paintings to t-shirts to shower curtains by Columbia artist and muralist, Ija Charles!

Let Zoo Valdes hook you up with a

Marius Valdes original coffee mug or tote bag!

Represent Columbia Music with a t-shirt, sticker, or button from

Death Ray Robin!

Cafe Press can hook you up with Root Doctors shirts and merch from

lots of other local bands!

Pick up a copy of Ed Madden’s Story of the City,

Carla Damron’s Justice Be Done,

Cassie Premo Steele’s Beaver Girl,

Claudia Smith Brinson’s Stories of Struggle,

Aida Rogers’ State of the Heart,

Jim Sonnefeld’s Swimming with the Blowfish,

and works by any number of local authors at

All Good Books Bookstore!

Visual Art makes for some of the most intimate of presents.

Check out Mike Brown Contemporary for work by

more than 30 local South Carolina artists including

David Yaghjian (above), Aggie Zed, Cedric Umoja, Jeff Donovan, Mark Flowers, and Lori Starnes!

Visit Sound Bites Eatery or any of the other

Jasper Galleries for original art by local artists!

Also pick up lunch for a friend

or a Sound Bites gift card!

Celebrate the art of a fine meal with gift cards from food artists like

Eddie Wales and Wesley Fulmer

and their restaurants that also support the local art by hanging and showing local art on their walls!

Motor Supply Bistro is currently showing the work of Jasper board member Laura Garner Hine.

Visit Bandcamp

and search for your favorite local artists to

give the gift of home-grown tunes this Christmas!

And the SC Philharmonic makes it easy to give the

gift of classical music with their

Holiday Gift Guide created just for you!

All Good Book Events Coming Up

One of the best things about having an independent bookstore in your hometown is the opportunities for community engagement it offers. Especially when the world feels off-kilter (can you remember when the world actually felt on-kilter?) it’s a joy to gather with other curious individuals to learn more about art, science, nature, life — pretty much anything that helps us understand why we are the way we are and why we do the things we do.

Luckily, Columbia has All Good Books now, located at 734 Harden Street. Bonus! Not only does AGB have convenient parking, it also has an excellent selection of coffee, vino, and books plus plenty of places to curl up for a conversation or a good sip and read, and now, there’s a lovely garden area out back where we can enjoy the fresh air and sun.

Thank you All Good Books!

Coming up at All Good Books

Walter Edgar’s Journal - LIVE Recording and BookNook RevealTuesday November 14th, 2023 @ 10:00AM - 12:30 PM

Walter Edgar will be recording his latest episode LIVE from AGB, and will reveal his new BookNook, featuring many of the books he has highlighted over the years, which will be available for purchase at AGB. The recording will be a ticketed event; more information coming soon, but you are welcome to email us at info@allgoodbooks.com or call us at 803-205-4139 if you are interested in attending and we will get back to you soon!

~~~~~

Queer Writers of Columbia Publishing Strategy WorkshopWednesday November 15th, 2023 @ 6:00PM - 7:30 PM


~~~~~

Cassie Premo Steele Book Launch PartyThursday November 16th, 2023 @ 6:00PM - 8:00 PM

Thursday, November 16th, at 6 pm, Cassie Premo Steele will be here to celebrate the release of her new book Beaver Girl.

Cassie Premo Steele is a lesbian, ecofeminist, mother, poet, novelist, and essayist whose writing focuses on the themes of trauma, healing, creativity, mindfulness and the environment. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the author of 18 books, including 7 books of poetry and 3 novels. Her poetry has been nominated 6 times for the Pushcart Prize. She was a Finalist for the Rita Dove Poetry Award judged by the current US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. She has also been awarded the John Edward Johnson Prize and the Carrie McCray Literary Award for Poetry. She is a recipient of the Archibald Rutledge Prize named after the first Poet Laureate of South Carolina, where she lives with her wife.

~~~~~

Anthony Varallo Columbia Book Launch Party Friday November 17th, 2023 @ 6:00PM - 8:00 PM

Anthony Varallo is the author of What Did You Do Today?, winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction, forthcoming from the University of North Texas Press in Fall 2023. His other books include a novel, The Lines (University of Iowa Press), as well as four previous short story collections: This Day in History, winner of the John Simmons Short Fiction Award; Out Loud, winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize; Think of Me and I’ll Know (Northwestern University Press); and Everyone Was There, winner of the Elixir Press Fiction Award. He is a professor of English at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC, where he directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing and serves as fiction editor of swamp pink literary journal.

Poetry of the People with Cassie Premo Steele

This week's Poet of the People is the indomitable Cassie Premo Steele. Cassie is an Earth mother to many poets and writers. Her poetry invites you to take a walk with her in a forest to her safe place for an intimate poetry salon with the denizens of nature. A Daughter of Light, she leads you back to the city refreshed and remade.

~~~~

Cassie Premo Steele is a lesbian ecofeminist poet and novelist and the author of 18 books. She will be reading from Swimming in Gilead, her seventh book of poetry, at Simple Gifts on November 7, and the launch party for her third novel, Beaver Girl, will be at All Good Books on November 16. Her poetry has won numerous awards, including the Archibald Rutledge Prize named after the first Poet Laureate of South Carolina, where she lives with her wife. She is currently running a Kickstarter project to fund the Beaver Girl Book Tour:

Poems from Swimming in Gilead, Yellow Arrow Publishing, 2023

~~~~~

Let Us Begin Again

 

Be very quiet. Make it dawn.

Rise from bed. Walk on the lawn.

Wait for it. The sun is coming.

It’s a new one. It’s beginning.

You don’t believe me, you say

this happens every day, there’s

nothing new under the sun and

certainly not the sun itself.

Put your doubts on a shelf,

I say to you. Hush now.

Listen to the birds singing.

Watch the blue ones feeding

their babies. See the heron

heading south for fishing.

Look at the egrets catching

pink light in their white wings.

Faith is made of things like

these, everyday movements,

sights and sounds that you

usually ignore, and today,

since you’ve told me you’re

tired of life and wanting something

more, I’ve shown you how to do it,

and now that you know,

come, let us begin again.


The Woman Speaks of Bicycles 

I’ve known bicycles:

I’ve known bicycles new as my skin and older than my dried blood

from my womb.

 

I’ve known bicycles:

Reliable rubber and metal bicycles.

My body has grown strong like bicycles.

 

I rode along the Minnesota roads when constant motion was my freedom.

I got off my bike and walked the sugar bluffs, puffing with each step.

I looked upon the Mississippi and had a vision of finally flowing away.

I heard the wheels of my bike whizzing downhill at the end of the day.

 

I’ve known bicycles:

Reliable rubber and metal bicycles.

My body has grown strong like bicycles.

 

I rode in Carolina when children waited for me back home.

I got off my bike and walked the hilly edge of Covenant Road.

I looked upon the Congaree River and knew I would always stay.

I heard the music of my own voice saying I could live a different way.

 

My body has grown strong like bicycles.

  

This Is How We 

I once knew a Native woman,

Eastern Cherokee, who taught me

that in order to fix a rip in a basket,

you can’t just go in after it.

You have to unwind the fibers until

it’s pinestraw and sweetgrass again.

This is how we begin again.

 

I once injured my left knee

and the physical therapist,

a Latina from Texas, showed

me how a lack of stability

in my right hip had caused it.

The body crosses like this,

she said. It’s all connected.

This is how we heal again.

 

I once lay on my bed for hours

on end, as a child in Minnesota,

reading book after book while

my body disappeared, and so

did the pain and fear, until

I was just a mind in a story.

It took me years to invite

my body back into the party.

This is how we move again.

 

I once stayed in endless motion

of serving and cleaning, cooking

and feeding, wiping and washing,

drying and folding, until my mind,

always so strong, broke hard

and long, and for the first time,

I told the truth in therapy.

This is how we feel again.

 

I once heard a song that felt

like it was singing all that had

gone wrong, and I thought

it had been written just for

me, and then a pandemic broke

the globe and I realized everybody

knows the melody of tragedy.

This is how we begin to be together for the first time really.

 

Sun Loving 

Just before the day ends, I look up

and the sun is in drag, orange lipstick

and purple fingernails, red hair,

peach high heels, and I say, Hey, girl,

Where you headed? And she says,

Off to bed. Alone? I ask. You know

better than that, she laughs, and

as she sashays away, I see the moon

and stars take her by the hand

and lead her downstairs to a ballroom

for a final dance before kisses and

all the love she has ever deserved.

 

Under a Full Moon 

What must be done is a gathering

of women under a full moon,

each one holding in her hands

a leaf or bud or flower, blade

of grass, and together we say

the names of these plants,

and the list transforms into

a poem, a prayer, a spell, an

incantation, a chant and belief

in peace, peace, peace, peace.

 

And when our throats go sore

and voices tire, we take our

empty hands and make a chain

to keep the violence from crashing

into bodies any longer, and

dream that war will cease.

  

Seeds 

I spent years diving and digging

and bringing coral and diamonds

up into the light with my palms,

but the sun had dimmed so much

that my gifts were invisible, and I

mourned the bodies and voices

of women and girls I’d wanted

to crown with orange and bright

jewels who had all gone down

underground in a collective action

of mutual survival, and so I let

what I wanted to give away

drop to the ground and walked

so long up a mountain that I could

look back and see the seeds had

buried themselves back into the

earth to be trees. Tall were their

trunks and the leaves sang green

songs to bring the girls and woman

back to me and back into the castles

and courts we ruled over again in

this land where we’d always belonged.

  

Tuesday Afternoon 

I walk with my fingers on the page and

I dance with my hips on the stage I have

made in my room where bluebirds take

turns with me playing the parts of star

and audience and I hear the silence filled

with breath and electric hum and a neighbor’s

rake and I touch my dog’s fur and think

about origins and species and know that

nothing the mind does brings as much joy

as an animal can and I laugh while

remembering my grandson’s voice after he

knocked my chin with a stick in the garden

and asked me, Are you okay, Gaga?

and I wonder what would have happened

if God had been more like this boy in Eden

and instead of rules and banishment, we’d

been met in our mistakes and our pain

with a question and compassion.

 

Presenting the Featured Authors Under the Jasper Literary Arts Tent at Rosewood Art & Music Festival -- Sandra E. Johnson and Cassie Premo Steele

We’re excited to invite you to join Jasper and 16 of SC’s finest working writers under the Jasper Literary Arts Tent at this year’s Rosewood Art & Music Festival on Saturday, October 7th from noon - 5 pm. Over the next few weeks we will be spotlighting each of these literary artists here at Jasper Online. Come back to this site often to learn more about these local literary treasures!

SANDRA JOHNSON will read from noon - 1 pm

Sandra E. Johnson is the author of The Resilience Journal:  365 Days to Balance and Peace of Mind (Clarkson Potter), a 365-day journal designed to strengthen skills to not just survive adversity but thrive from it.  Praised by bestselling authors Sharon Salzberg and Karen Casey, as well as mindfulness leaders Richard Miller, PhD, Stacey Milner-Collins, and Shivani Hawkins, The Resilience Journal offers inspirational quotes by great thinkers followed by interactive writing prompts to serve as guides towards greater wellness and resiliency.  It is preceded by The Mind-Body Peace Journal:  366 Mindful Prompts for Serenity & Peace (Sterling Publishing), which has sold widely around the world and been highlighted in Psychology Today.  Sandra’s first book is Standing on Holy Ground:  A Triumph over Hate Crime in the Deep South, the true story of how a courageous African American woman and her white friend risked their lives to help rebuild an African American church in Lexington County after it was destroyed by racially motivated hate crime.  Standing on Holy Ground earned rave reviews from O:  The Oprah Magazine, Southern Living, and USA Today. 

CASSIE PREMO STEELE will read from 4 - 5 pm

Cassie Premo Steele, PhD, is a lesbian ecofeminist poet and novelist and the author of 18 books including Swimming in Gilead, her seventh book of poetry, out later this month, and Beaver Girl, her third novel coming in November. Her poetry has won numerous awards, including the Archibald Rutledge Prize named after the first Poet Laureate of South Carolina, where she lives with her wife.

Join Us Under the Jasper Literary Arts Tent at Rosewood Art & Music Festival – October 7th

You’re invited to join the Jasper Project and some of your favorite local writers of poetry and prose under the Jasper Literary Arts Tent at the 2023 Rosewood Art & Music Festival on Saturday, October 7th from noon – 5 pm.*

You’ll get to hear some of your favorite Columbia-based writers read from a selection of their works, purchase their books, and then meet the authors and have your books signed.

*Authors will read during the first half of each hour and then sign and greet friends during the second half of each hour.

901 S Holly St, Columbia, SC 29205

 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Noon – 1 pm

Carla Damron

Jane Zenger

Sandra Johnson

 

1 – 2 pm

Evelyn Berry

Debbie Daniel

Susan Craig

 

2 - 3 pm

Terri McCord

Ann Chadwell Humphries

Robert (Bo) Petersen

 

3 – 4 pm

Jo Angela Edwins

Randy Spencer

Kristine Hartvigsen

 

4 – 5 pm

Al Black

Ed Madden

Cassie Premo Steele

For more information about the performing and visual artists you’ll see at the Rosewood Art & Music Festival, check out the festival website!

My Feet Will Be Praying -

Received this message this morning from a dear friend and member of our arts community, Cassie Premo Steele, and wanted to share it with all of you.

Dear Cindi,

I woke this morning with my heart heavy about yesterday’s events at the synagogue in Pittsburgh. I know you’re feeling it, too.

So I did what I always do when my heart is yearning for healing and change. I made something.

This image is a combination of two things from The ReSisters:

-Art by Amy Alley that depicts the Cherokee word for “fight,” which is not the kind of fighting we do now in our society.

-Dialogue between Hadassah, a theology professor, and Sanna, who knows that she is echoing the phrase by Rabbi Heschel, who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., at Selma.

I hope this little gift ripples out with waves of peace and understanding today.

My feet will be praying.png

Thank you to Cassie, and peace to us all —

Columbia's Favorite Poetry - Today, featuring Cassie Premo Steele

national poetry month.jpg

In celebration of National Poetry Month the Jasper Project invited several artists, writers, and leaders in the Columbia arts community to share with us their favorite poems and most of them generously accepted.

We’ve put together this collection of our favorite poems and will be sharing them with you, poem by poem, day by day, over the month of April. Some of the poems are old and traditional, others are new and inventive. Some are whimsical, others are insightful. Some rhyme. Some don’t.

What they all have in common is that someone you know loves that poem – and this gives us such lovely insight into the soul of our community.

Thank you to everyone who shared their poetry with us.

And Happy National Poetry Month from Jasper.

 

Our fist poem is from poet and author Cassie Premo Steele.

 

Cassie Premo Steele

 

"My favorite poem is For Each of Us by Audre Lorde. Audre Lorde's poetry has been important to me throughout my life, so much so that I remember being in my twenties and feeling like life was worth living because I hadn't yet read everything she'd written. I love this poem especially because it is fierce and wise and supportive, but with the paradox of truth that makes Lorde a poet-philosopher. Power and pain exist together. Preparing a meal is essential, but there is more to life. The best politics come when we quiet down and do the work. Nothing is eternal, even the deepest love. And yet, we go on loving and nurturing in a spirit of pride and strength."

 

FOR EACH OF YOU

By Audre Lorde

 

Be who you are and will be

learn to cherish

that boisterous Black Angel that drives you

up one day and down another

protecting the place where your power rises

running like hot blood

from the same source 

as your pain.

 

When you are hungry

learn to eat

whatever sustains you

until morning

but do not be misled by details

simply because you live them.

 

Do not let your head deny

your hands

any memory of what passes through them

nor your eyes

nor your heart

everything can be used

except what is wasteful

(you will need

to remember this when you are accused of destruction.) 

Even when they are dangerous examine the heart of those machines you hate

before you discard them

and never mourn the lack of their power

lest you be condemned

to relive them.

If you do not learn to hate

you will never be lonely

enough

to love easily

nor will you always be brave

although it does not grow any easier

 

Do not pretend to convenient beliefs

even when they are righteous

you will never be able to defend your city

while shouting.

 

Remember whatever pain you bring back 

from your dreaming

but do not look for new gods

in the sea

nor in any part of a rainbow

Each time you love

love as deeply as if were

forever

only nothing is

eternal.

 

Speak proudly to your children

where ever you may find them

tell them

you are offspring of slaves

and your mother was

a princess

in darkness. 

 

 

Cassie Premo Steele is the author of fifteen books, including six books of poetry, and her new novel, The ReSisters, will be out later this year.

 

Cassie Premo Steele

Cassie Premo Steele

Cassie Premo Steele Talks with Syzygy Poetry Open Call Winners Ann Humphries & Maggie Olszewski

 

Interview with Ann Humphries and Maggie Olszewski

 

Jasper asked Cassie Premo Steele, who adjudicated the Syzygy New Voices of the Eclipse poetry contest for new and emerging writers, to talk to the winners about their poetry and processes.

 

Maggie Olszewski, whose poem, “The Nature of Shadow,” was chosen as the contest winner, was born in Columbia, South Carolina, and she is 16 years old. She has been writing ever since the age of 6, when she wrote her first piece—a Harry Potter fanfiction. This year she is attending South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, where she will further pursue her craft.

 

Ann Humphries is also from Columbia, where she studied poetry with Nikky Finney and Ed Madden at USC. Her poem, “An Eclipse and A Butcher,” was chosen as the honorable mention in the contest. She has also earned Ultimate Outsider status for visiting all 47 state parks — as the only blind person to finish. She has a guide dog and tree named in her honor.

~~~

Cassie: Since this was a contest for new and emerging writers, can you tell us a little about why you entered the contest and how it felt? This might be helpful to others who may be hesitant to submit their work.

 

Maggie: This prompt really hit home for me. As someone who is deeply invested and interested in the science behind the upcoming eclipse, the idea to convey my feelings towards it artistically hadn't occurred to me. It felt great to take the prompt and shape my own thoughts around it. 

 

Ann: I loved this prompt. I became deliciously lost in the research. I spun five poems about the eclipse. 

 

Cassie: Can you say a little about what the process of writing poetry is like for you?

 

Maggie: I usually sit down with a rough idea of where I want to go or end up—often a first line, a theme, or a story. I get my thoughts onto paper and revise in a couple of days.

 

Cassie: When you have a specific assignment, such as you did for this poem about the eclipse, is your writing process different?

 

Maggie: Yes. When I have a specific assignment, I don't wait to revise. I plan the structure of the poem before I start and make sure I have a stronger sense of what I'm trying to accomplish. 

 

Ann: I appreciate deadlines. I played in the research, asked myself what would be a unique perspective. What I especially admired about this contest is its intersection of science, visual art, poetry, even plays, culture, history, and technology. This contest took me to fresh reservoirs of writing.

 

Cassie: What's your sense of the poetry and arts scene in Columbia?

 

Ann: Bursting with life! And Jasper is a nexus for collaboration across the genres. By the way, I searched the country for comparable contests. All I could find were readings and plays in Oregon and Illinois. Good for Jasper! Bravo to the SC Humanities Council.

 

Maggie: I know quite a few actors and artists through my father, but not as many as more established writers might (obviously). From what I can tell, everyone seems to know everyone, and there's an immense amount of collaboration and supportiveness that goes on. It seems like a really cool thing to be a part of. 

 

Cassie: And if you could wave a magic wand and make something happen in the city, what would it be?

 

Ann: Bring back the Book Festival - or fully support Deckle Edge. I savored every morsel, would have pitched a tent. If only we could have clones to attend all the events.  

 

Maggie: Hm. That's a good question. I'd probably clear the city of litter. It's not too bad in my little corner of Columbia, but I've driven through areas that could really do for a cleanup. Maybe we could get all the artists together to clean up the city and make an art project from it!

 

Cassie: I love that idea! Anything else you'd like to share?

 

Ann: I'm becoming a Jasper Guild member.

 

Maggie: And I’m really grateful for this opportunity.

 

Cassie: Thank you both.

~~~

Jasper thanks Cassie for all her efforts in this project - from adjudicating the open call to participating as a poet in the Syzygy Poetry Invitational.

If YOU'D like to become a member of the Jasper Guild like, Ann (and thank you, Ann!), just click on "Store" at this website's main page.

Look for Ann and Maggie's poems in the Fall 2017 issue of Jasper Magazine.

Join us on Thursday, August 17th at 3 pm in the first floor auditorium of Richland Library to hear Ann, Maggie, Cassie, and a spectacular cast of South Carolina's most elite poets read their poetry in response to the eclipse at SYZYGY: The Poetry (free). Then join us at 7 pm or 10 pm at Tapp's Arts Center for the performance of SYZYGY: The Plays ($10).

 

Cassie Premo Steele is the author of 14 books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, including Earth Joy Writing (2015) and Beautiful Waters (2016).  She has recently completed a novel about mindfulness called The Lessons of Birds and is working …

Cassie Premo Steele is the author of 14 books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, including Earth Joy Writing (2015) and Beautiful Waters (2016).  She has recently completed a novel about mindfulness called The Lessons of Birds and is working on a poetry collection called Tongues in Trees. She works as a writing coach with women from around the world and lives in Columbia with her musician/web developer wife and laughter-inducing daughter. 

Dropped into the Middle of a Major Arts Month - What to Do Today, Tomorrow, Thursday and Friday

Hello Columbia Artists and Arts Lovers! I just got back a few hours ago from London and Ireland where the Bier Doc and I sucked up every last morsel of art we could cram into the two weeks we were there -- Five plays, three art museums including the very cool Hugh Lane in Dublin which houses the actual studio of Francis Bacon, three guided walks (Irish literary, history, and trad music), over 30 pubs, most with music - all with brew, and more sights and sounds and cliffs and sheep and ancient neo-lithic sites than I ever thought possible.

Francis Bacon standing in front of his Triptych

Yes, we got home exhausted, which is unfortunate, especially given the line-up of art and art experiences that April has in store for all of us. We're going to try to keep you posted via our Facebook page and this blog - What Jasper Says, but you should also pay close attention to the listings at One Columbia as well as at Indie Grits which kicks off Friday night with a smokin' hot  Block Party.

indie grits

Tonight, we recommend you join Yours Truly as I help out at the USC Art Auction at the Campus Room of the Capstone Building on the campus of USC. The auction starts at 7 with a lovely reception at 6.

(This guys knows not what he's doing and neither will I)

On Wednesday, we recommend you schedule yourself for the Closing Reception for Painted Violins from 5 - 8 at Gervais and Vine at 620 Gervais Street which benefits our beloved SC Philharmonic.

"She Used to Play the Violin" by Wayne Thornley

On Thursday, the highly successful (blushing) Jasper Salon Series returns with a presentation and discussion by local poet, author, and creativity coach, Cassie Premo Steele. We'll start out about 7 pm with drinks and chatting, then at 7:30 sharp, Cassie will begin the program.

Cassie Premo Steele

We'll be posting more sneak peeks at all the cool stuff going on this month just as soon as we unpack and get a day's work done. I'm looking forward to seeing you all where you ought to be -- smack in the middle of the Southeast's newest and hottest arts destination, Columbia, SC!

Cheers,

Cindi

(note: not sure what happened to the previous version of this post which was missing most of its text. Oops & sorry!)

 

Review -- The Pomegranate Songs by Cassie Premo Steele and Russ Eidson

pomegranate papers For the last few months here at Jasper, we’ve had a submission that we didn’t really know what to do with—a CD, a collection of something in between songs and poems, put out by poet Cassie Premo Steele and musician Russ Eidson, called The Pomegranate Songs. We reviewed the book of the same name when it came out, although this sort-of companion wasn’t mentioned, and I felt like this was inevitably going to be more of a spoken-word extension of that collection (with background music) rather than a standalone album in and of itself.

Of course, the easiest way to figure out the thing was to give it a listen. The results were a bit more surprising—there is far more of Eidson here, who does the majority of the singing and whose Americana-flavored guitar accompaniment and subtle keyboard and mandolin touches in many ways define the listening experience.  Steele reads some of her poetry, sometimes alone, sometimes in call and response to Eidson, and tentatively sings a few as well. The sense you get more than anything, though, is that these are poems reimagined through Eidson’s musicality, finding different rhythms and meanings, melodies and resonances, in reading a book of poems. Everything is doused in reverb and given a heavy, evocative feel, lending a reverential atmosphere to the proceedings.

And it’s well-done, for the most part, although the question of audience remains. These are not-quite songs, as even at their folkiest they seem to work better on the page than sung aloud. Most music fans, I imagine, would find these recordings charming and soothing, but with an odd balance of meditative and easy listening that does not create a whole lot of earworm stickiness. Poetry fans might be better served, particularly given the sense of process and re-imagination at work here, with a male musician giving Steele’s eco-feminist ruminations a startling twist. And the sense of exploration—and sense of daring—that comes from a poet tackling the vulnerable project of singing her words also has its own intriguing appeal.

In the most artistic sense, then, The Pomegranate Songs, as a recording, is a success, and worthy of at least your curiosity.

-- Kyle Petersen, music editor, Jasper Magazine

(editor's note: This is a revised version of the original blog post.)

The Next Big Thing - by Cindi Boiter

I feel a little guilty using What Jasper Said to post my answers to The Next Big Thing, the hot new meme going around our community in which writers tag one another and ask that they write about their newest projects. But given that my newest project was published by Muddy Ford Press and that MFP underwrites Jasper Magazine, there's a sweet symbiosis to it that I cannot deny. Here's how it works -- after having been tagged (my thanks to Cassie Premo Steele for tagging me), the newly tagged author is required to self-interview, answering 10 pre-determined questions. After having answered these questions, she tags another five writers to do the same.

Here goes.

What is the working title of your book?

The Limelight -- A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists, volume 1

What is the genre of your book?

Essay collection

Where did the idea come from?

Columbia, SC is a city that is reeling with a multitude of artists from different genres, particularly the literary arts. We have an inordinate number of professional writers here, yet we don't really have a sense of ourselves as a writing community -- though we are. I'd love to play some part in helping us to form a more unified community of writers. I want Columbia to be known as a "writers' town." To that end, I invited 18 local writers to contribute first person narrative essays about another local artist -- writer, visual artist, musician, dancer, theatre artist, whatever -- who had influenced them in some way.  I had the pleasure of editing the essays.

Clearly, one volume is not enough to represent the artists and authors we have here, so I decided to serialize the compendium with the plan of publishing it on an annual basis.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Columbia, SC essayists sing the praises of Columbia, SC artists.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I issued the call for essays in the summer of 2012 with an autumn deadline. We went to press in February 2013.

Who or what inspired you to write it?

The community of Columbia artists.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

My book was published by Muddy Ford Press.

What other books would you compare this book to within your genre?

I don't really know of any other books with the same model.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Well, there are 36 "characters" if we include both the contributors and the subjects of their essays.

The essay I wrote was about the artist Blue Sky, so, naturally Clint Eastwood would play Blue. For me? Lisa Kudrow or Terri Garr.

Ed Madden would be played by Jon Cryer and James Dickey by Jon Voight.

Jeffrey Day? Woody Allen, of course. James Busby would be played by Channing Tatum (that's right, I said it.)

I'd like to cast Christopher Walken to play someone, but I'm not sure who ... a much older Chad Henderson, maybe? Just for kicks?

Patrick Wilson would play Kyle Petersen with Sheryl Crow playing Danielle Howle (though I like Danielle's voice far better).

Billy Murray would play the part of Stephen Chesley and the part of Susan Lenz would be played by Julia Louis Dreyfus.

Vicky Saye Henderson would play herself.

What else about your manuscript might pique the reader's interest?

Some of the first lines are spectacular. For example, poet Ray McManus opens his essay about Terrance Hayes with this, "When you're a boy growing up in rural South Carolina, and you want to be a poet, you should first learn to fight."

And ballet dancer Bonnie Boiter-Jolley's first line about her mentor Stacey Calvert is brutally honest when she says, "When I first met Stacey Calvert over a decade ago, she explained to me how being a dancer is a very selfish thing."

And there are 16 more.

~~

That's the end of the interview and I have to admit that it was fun. In an effort to share the fun and keep this meme going I'm tagging Aida Rogers, Don McCallister, Debbie Daniel, Kristine Hartvigsen, and Susan Levi Wallach. And I'm inviting them all to post their answers to me so I can share them with our readers. I think there's something about Wednesdays and deadlines also as I was tagged on a Wednesday and told to blog on the next Wednesday. So, by next Wednesday, I hope to have even more Next Big Things to share.

Thanks for reading,

Cindi

 

 

 

First Lines -- an invitation from Jasper

"As she sat stunned in her car on Charleston's rickety old John P. Grace Memorial Bridge, trapped precariously 150 feet above the swift-moving waters of the Cooper River, ..."

~

"When you're a boy growing up in rural South Carolina, and you want to be a poet, you should first learn to fight."

~

"It was a Tuesday night in the spring of 1988 and I decided to head down to Pug's in Five Points for the weekly jam session."

~

"This essay is not an act of revenge."

~

"Bastille Day 2001, personal date of independence."

~

"It's a particularly hot summer day, even for Columbia, when I parallel park my car on Washington Street and notice a tall, lanky gentleman as he moves stiffly to reposition an over-sized canvas by the curb."

~

"It began with a gift."

 Ahh, first lines.

Every literary adventure you've ever been on began with one.

Please join the Jasper and Muddy Ford Press family today as we celebrate the first lines above and more than a dozen more when we launch our newest book,

The Limelight – A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists,

volume 1,

with a launch party from 5 – 8 pm at Tapp’s Arts Center on Main Street in Columbia.

The $15 admission to the event includes a copy of The Limelight ($18 after 2/24/13), music, food, and the opportunity to gather signatures from authors and artists in attendance at the launch. For couples wishing to share a book, admission is $25.

There will be a cash bar.

The Limelight, published by Muddy Ford Press, LLC, is the first volume in a serialized collection of 18 first-person, narrative essays written by professional Columbia authors and artists about professional Columbia authors and artists. It is the sixth book to be published by Muddy Ford Press since February 2012.

Edited by Jasper Magazine founder and editor Cynthia Boiter, The Limelight – A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists, Volume 1 is a serialized collection of first person narrative essays written by Columbia, SC writers and artists about Columbia, SC writers and artists. As the Southeast’s newest arts destination, Columbia is bursting with visual, literary, and performing artists whose work has caught the attention of the greater arts world at large, and these essays tell the stories of how the influence of these artists has spread. New York Times best-selling author Janna McMahan, for example, writes about spending a day touring Beaufort, SC, the hometown of literary giant Pat Conroy, with the writer himself. Poet Ed Madden writes about the disconcerting words of advice he received from dying poet and professor James Dickey when Madden took over teaching the last academic course of Dickey’s career. Music writers Michael Miller and Kyle Petersen share insights on saxophone great Chris Potter and contemporary singer-songwriter Danielle Howle, respectively, and poet Cassie Premo Steele writes about the inspiration stemming from her friendship with nationally-known visual artist Philip Mullen.

These 18 essays include works by and about poets Nikky Finney, Terrance Hayes, Marjory Wentworth, Ray McManus, Cassie Premo Steele, Kristine Hartvigsen, Colena Corbett, and Ed Madden; visual artists Philip Mullen, Gilmer Petroff, Blue Sky, James Busby, Stephen Chesley, and Susan Lenz; musicians Chris Potter and Danielle Howle; dancers Stacey Calvert and Bonnie Boiter-Jolley; actors and directors Robert Richmond, Greg Leevy, Chad Henderson, Vicky Saye Henderson, Jim and Kay Thigpen, and Alex Smith; and writers and editors James Dickey, Pat Conroy, Janna McMahan, Aida Rogers, Michael Miller, Jeffrey Day, Kyle Petersen, Robbie Robertson, Don McCallister, Robert Lamb, August Krickel, and Cynthia Boiter.

For more information or to order online please go to

MuddyFordPress.com.

 

 

New Music: The Hollerin' River Talkers + TONIGHT = Jasper #006

   

Our magazine release parties (if you’ll forgive me for saying so), have had some fairly awesome live performances. And while I have written about our headlining band The Restoration in the past, I want to take some time before the party tonight to tell you about a new, lesser known act who is also capable of blowing your mind.

The Hollerin’ River Talkers, a diverse project-group of singer/songwriters spearheaded by Shallow Palace leader Greg Slattery, is dedicated to reviving classic old folk and blues tunes into a modern context. This task is something that, to put it simply, they blow out of the f***in’ ballpark.

Marshall Brown is the lead-off singer in the troupe, and contributes a (for-him) relatively straightforward vocal that still brings the Donovan-esque psychedelia he is known for to “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home.” Daniel Machado (of the The Restoration) makes a banjo-led attack on “Mary,” an old folk tune about how cheating on your wife ain’t gonna get you to heaven, while Aaron Berg and Slattery both take a gorgeously dirty stab at the blues standards “Catfish Blues” and “Death Room Blues.” Todd Mathis rounds out the set with a dirty rock take on the gospel tune “Wade in the Water,” the only tune which fully makes use of drummer Steve Sancho’s presence.

All of these tunes are ragged and sparse, but that’s not what makes them great—it’s the fact that each contributor never forgets the feeling that these songs first inspired, with lust, laughter, and longing all mixed up in equal measure. It’s a short collection, but I guarantee you’ll want to hear it again and again.

To listen/buy all of these tunes: http://rivertalkers.bandcamp.com/

Come out and see us tonight at Tom Law's Conundrum Music Hall on Meeting Street in West Columbia. We're starting at 7:30 with poetry from Kristine Hartvigsen and Cassie Premo Steele, three short films by Wade Sellers, the Next Door Drummers, a set of classical guitar from Amelia Mau, a solo set from Rhodes Bailey of the Whiskey Tango Revue, then the Hollerin' River Talkers and The Restoration, who will be missing their drummer so they'll be laying down some pretty damn good blue grass. JoeTurkaly will be making supper ($) and two bars will be open. The event itself is free. All to celebrate Columbia's badass arts scene and the release of Jasper #006 -- a solid year of bringing you the magazine we said we would, when we said we would, and in the best possible shape we could get it to you.

You can count on Jasper.

Christmas Wishes for and from the Columbia Arts Community, Part II

(This is a continuation of a blog posted on Christmas Eve -- please start your reading here, and then join this blog post in progress.)  

 

from Cassie Premo Steele

An inner sense of validation of one's self, spirit, health, and creativity. We no longer need to look outside ourselves to know that we, ourselves, and our work are valid. We can be who we truly are and create from that shining place.

from  Noah Brock

Santa should bring the arts community the power to stand together to remove the confederate flag. The arts community should resolve to do the aforementioned so that artists and performers we enjoy and love will be more willing to play in Columbia. IT’S 2012! LET US GET IT DOWN THIS YEAR!

 

from Susan Lenz

I'd love for Santa to bring an arts calendar to Columbia ... something easy to navigate, used by all individual artists and organizations ... on a permanent Internet site (not just on Facebook) ... updated regularly ... better looking and more complete than "welcome to the weekend" ... and with images. Maybe Jeffrey can be Santa again ... or at least be part of the present ... with the rest of the gift being the funding that would make it all possible!

 

from Coralee Harris

Access to Bill Gates checking account so we can fund the myriad of projects that currently exist only in the minds of our talented artists. . .and in the absence of that, we probably need to do more classes on grant writing for the artists and performers so they can have a better shot at getting more funding.

 

from Robert Michalski

I want Santa to bring the Columbia arts community inspiration and financial success!

 

 

from Tracie Broom

For the young orgs, funding for paid staff and infrastructure would be pretty fantastic. For everyone? A few more hardcore, dedicated super-volunteers who take the lead and get things done well. Those folks are like human gold.

 

 

from Bonnie Goldberg

I wish for Santa to bring a continued love of the arts to a community already filled with curiosity, creativity, and love and support for one another where we will continue to gather and grow and make our Columbia one of the premiere art destinations in the world....happy holidays, Columbia artists!

 

Look for New Year's resolutions from Columbia artists and arts supporters coming soon. To add your own wish for the New Year, please comment below or send your resolution to

editor@jaspercolumbia.com

 

 

 

 

 

Get your groove back via Cassie Premo Steele

It happens to all of us, whether we're artists or artisans (two decidedly different classifications) or amateurs. Sometimes we just get stale. We can't find our groove. The juices aren't flowing. We freeze up. For those of us who build with words, we call it writers' block -- and it is the scariest, most frustrating sensation in the world. Other times we're plodding along just fine. Cranking it out. Meeting our deadlines. Getting the job done. And our work is fine. Just fine. Nothing special, nothing innovative, nothing earth-shattering. It's fine.

If you're a writer and you ever find yourself in either of these two situations, it's important to keep your head about you. Your world probably isn't coming to an end. But you may, in fact, need something of a tune up. Luckily there's someone in town who has perfected the art of stimulating creativity -- poet, author, academician, and creativity coach, Cassie Premo Steele.

Jasper has had the pleasure of both attending Cassie's creativity workshops and hosting them, so we're taking this opportunity to spread the word that another series of workshops will be taking place soon. It's nice to take a moment now and then and just tend to one's creative core. It's sort of like tidying up your desk -- it needs to be done anyway and, in all likelihood, it'll help you work better. Jasper recommends it.

We're bold-faced copying and pasting info about Cassie's upcoming creative writing class below, as well as one of her lovely poems below that. If you decide to sign up for one of her classes, please tell her Jasper sent you, and let us know how it worked out. We'd really like to know.

Here's the spiel in Cassie's own words --

In October, I will be offering a lunchtime Creative Writing Class on Tuesdays from 12:00-1:00 at The Co-Creating Studio in the Forest Acres area of Columbia.

We will cover the fundamentals of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction, and the primary focus will be to help you generate new material and stretch yourself to write with greater emotional depth and clarity. Also covered will be the fundamentals of revision and how to... submit your writing for publication.

The cost is $100 per month to be paid at the first class of the month or $30/ per class.

Class size will be limited so everyone can get individual attention, and spaces are already filling, so if you are interested, feel free to email me at cassiepremosteele@gmail.com or call or text 803 420 1400.

All best wishes, Cassie Premo Steele

For those who don't know me, I am the author of eight books, a Pushcart nominated poet, and a writing & creativity coach with two decades of university and community teaching experience. You can visit my website at www.cassiepremosteele.com for more.

 

And here's one of Jasper's favorite Cassie poems --

 

Sometimes at night I dream I am pregnant again*

Sometimes at night I dream I am pregnant again but with a book,

not a baby, and my stomach extends not roundly but with four

corners, sharp edges and the fear of splinters, cuts and wood.

 

When I wait in the rain before dawn for the rest of the world

to awaken, I imagine the eggs still within me are pearls.

What I hold is a jewel of beginning again, something softer

 

than scarves and more precious than music playing in the dark.

Sometimes I rise and go to the window and make myself take

a look.  The baby is there, and the book, looking down from the moon.

 

They sing me a lullaby.  Their words say there is always enough time,

enough space, more than enough room.  I fall back asleep in this world, dreaming of what is

beginning in me to the sound of this tune.

 

(*A certain member of Jasper's clan has been dreaming lately that she, too, is pregnant, though she is far too old for another child. We're wondering if the dreams will subside after Jasper debuts in print form on Thursday night?)