Mar 10
21
I received this great story from a new Flourish friend and North Carolina native Terri Erickson a few days ago. She is proof that you can achieve your biggest dreams, even when you’re over 50!
I am a 51-year-old poet who didn’t start writing “seriously” until I turned 45. Now I’ve had over 70 poems published in literary journals and other publications, won awards, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and a Best of the Net Award in 2009. My second collection of poetry, Telling Tales of Dusk, released in Sept., 2009, went up to #8 in Amazon poetry sales last month. Of course, it’s slowly sinking in the west on Amazon right now, (what goes up usually comes down!) but I’m doing my best to think of marketing strategies to boost up my rank again. But mostly, I just love connecting with people who have been moved or changed by my words…
Despite being menopausal (!), this has to be one of the happiest times in my life. I’m living a dream of being a published poet that I’ve had since I was 10! Also, FYI, if you know anyone who suffers from Crohn’s disease, IBD or any kind of colitis, I wrote an article for a national publication called Pain Pathways entitled, “Only Part of My Story: Crohn’s Disease,” that I hope will really help some folks if only so they can see that you don’t have to be ashamed to talk about these illnesses. (Pain Pathways can be purchased at Barnes & Noble, and may be at your local doctor’s office. You can also visit their website at painpathways.com)
Here is one of the poems from the second book. This one has never been published anywhere else but in my book and it’s a very special poem to me about my wonderful mother.
Another Memory of My Mother’s Kindness © 2009 by Terri Kirby Erickson (excerpt from Telling Tales of Dusk)At the end of our street was a small patch of land where a neighbor’s grandfather, his body bent as a boomerang, tilled the ground and planted seeds. At harvest time, the sun beat down hard as rain and mottled his bare back, cupped like a hand over rich swells of dirt and the foliate flare of ripe cabbages. Come noon, he’d lean against a shade tree and drink the tall glass of lemonade my mother always brought him, sowing seeds of her own while we watched— and remembered.
You can order Telling Tales of Dusk (Press 53) at Amazon.com/Telling Tales of Dusk
And visit Terri’s blog here at Poet Terri Kirby Erickson
