Beauty in Spring
A Crowdsourced Poem from Fellow Members of Behind Our Eyes
by Abbie Johnson Taylor
©2023
Able to be appreciated without the eye,
beauty walks with graceful strides, spreading fragrant petals.
In motion, with majestic mountains, fertile valleys,
grass, trees, shrubs, flowers, streams,
a whirl of bright feathers in a chambray sky,
it springs joyously forth with new beginnings.
***
Note: In a crowdsourced poem, the author uses other poets’ unpublished material along with his/her own words. Most of the material in my poem came from fellow members of Behind Our Eyes, a writers’ organization to which I belong.
Several months ago, one of our members, who works for National Braille Press, proposed we each write a crowdsourced poem on the theme of beauty, which just happens to be the theme for their annual poetry reading at the end of this month. She asked those interested to email her a few lines on the subject. She compiled all the lines she received into a document, and sent that document to the group’s email list, so we could each write a poem, using any of the lines that others wrote. You can click the link below to hear me read my poem.
Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography
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New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me
Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.
Independently published with the help of DLD Books.
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Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.
After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.
Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.
Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?
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