Yikes! I haven't posted at Wild Rose Reader in over a week! I've been really busy lately. My attention has also become more focused on family—especially my little granddaughter
Julia. I so enjoy being her “nanny granny.” Watching her change and grow is
such a joy for me. I had the BEST Mother’s Day ever this year because I’m a grandma
now.
Julia on Mother's Day
Here’s a picture of me on Mother’s Day with my
daughter, my granddaughter, and my mother.
I’m
still doing revisions on my Things to Do manuscript. I have a few more “things
to do” on the collection. I think “final” revisions can be the most
difficult. I sometimes find that I have to step away from a poem for a day…or two…or
more before I can look at it with new eyes and make the changes that are
needed. Can't wait until I'm done!
I
also went through an extended rewriting process last year when I was working on a
poem about Jonas Salk for an anthology titled Dare to Dream…Change the World. (The book will be published by Kane Miller this coming fall.)
JillCorcoran is the editor of the anthology. Here is her synopsis of the book:
Dare to Dream … Change the World pairs biographical and
inspirational poems focusing on people who invented something, stood for
something, said something, who defied the naysayers and not only changed their
own lives, but the lives of people all over the world.
Last
November, I posted the first draft of my Salk poem. You can read that poem here.
Working on revisions for my Things to Do manuscript gave me the idea of posting another draft of my Jonas Salk poem for Poetry Friday. The following draft was dated July 21, 2011.
Jonas Salk
Becoming a lawyer was
not for me.
I had been captivated by
atoms and molecules,
By the world of science.
I was interested now in
the laws of nature—
Not the laws of man.
I would become a medical
researcher,
Learn how the human body
fights infection,
Discover cures for
illnesses,
Find ways to prevent
diseases.
I would be a problem
solver.
That excited me!
The laboratory became my
home.
Finding a way to
immunize people against polio,
The disease that had
crippled so many, became my passion.
I spent years
experimenting, searching for an answer.
In 1953, we inoculated
our first “polio pioneers.”
The vaccine worked!
Now no more children
would have to walk
With metal braces on
their legs…
No more children would
be paralyzed or trapped inside iron lungs.
No more parents would
live in fear of the word “polio.”
President Eisenhower
said he had no words to thank me.
I needed no thanks.
I had lived my dream to
help mankind.
I was asked who owned the patent on
my vaccine. I replied,
"There is no patent. Could you
patent the sun?"
It belonged to the people.
********************
Katya has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Write.
Sketch. Repeat.
4 comments:
I'm not sure why it says I'm anonymous. I'm Ruth, from thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
This new book your poem will be in sounds wonderful, Elaine. I've been teaching some poetry lessons using your mask poems, & the students love using their research to craft their poems. This is still another idea/mentor text to use for poetry requires research. Lovely about him, too! What a gift he gave.
I can't wait for this new collection of poems! We have lots of poetry/NF crossover with science and nature. We need more with history/biography!!
Dear Elaine: You wrote so many good drafts of that poem--what, a dozen? fifteen?! And you did so much research on Salk, I really do think you could write a whole book about him. (You can read Carmen Bernier-Grand's terrific poetry bios of Frida Kahlo and Cesar Chavez for inspiration!)
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