Following the Trail of Poetry
My experiences have been richly diverse, and for that I feel immensely blessed and grateful. My mother used to say that I have “many irons in the fire,” using an old Appalachian expression that is still uttered quite often in the hills of East Tennessee. My Latinx friends tell me that I wear “muchos sombreros.” While both maxims are apt, I prefer the metaphor of “trails” to describe my multifaceted walks through life. Perhaps this symbol has, in part, to do with my passion for recognizing footpaths as I hike. However, neither literally nor figuratively do I consider myself a trailblazer. I simply have been lured to roads already existing, though most often not frequently travelled, and I have taken them—which, as poet Robert Frost reminds us, makes “all the difference.” The contemplation of these paths has led me to create my first book of poetry, Trailing the Azimuth, which will be published by the Resource Publications imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers in the coming months.
Needless to say, I am over the moon with joy. To everyone who knows and loves me well, this step—this trail—makes perfect sense. My wise nephew even said, “It’s a natural progression.” There is truth in that statement. Having read great literature since I could first comprehend words, and having taught others to write powerful compositions, it indeed feels that the time is now for me to release a lifetime of experiences and rhythms into lyrical compasses. More than anything else, however, I owe this publication of poetry to my ten-year-old self—the little girl who was star-struck by verse and who etched out poems in volumes of notebooks.
And I have never stopped jotting them down, in the best and in the worst of times. During the darkest days of 2020, when I had much time to explore my possessions at home, I excavated some of those old writings, taking the time to read again one unwavering truth that was written over and over in my journals at different stages of development and growth—that I feel the call to write. Not only had the young girl written about the dream of publishing poetry, but I found also that even my graduate-school avatar had recorded that aspiration as well. As I re-envisioned myself at those various periods of life, sweeping in to embrace again the ancient optimism, I decided then, sometime in that strange and transitional year of 2020, that I am truly obligated to keep those dreams in motion. Thus, I began typing, reburnishing, creating anew. The result is Trailing the Azimuth. And I am happy to soon share it with you.
The book brings together various “trails” of my life, some of them figurative and others literal. In them all I have tried to explore the beauty that can be found in many landscapes, many peoples, many languages, many emotions. Woven into the poetic snapshots of my Appalachian homeplace and its rich and diverse heritage—the roots and branches of life that form my being—are also the shining threads of experience of my life in such places as the American Southwest, Turkey, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Jamaica. Through it all, there have been constant truths that keep speaking to my mind and heart: (1) beauty exists everywhere, even amid all the struggles and the differences; (2) as diverse and unique as our paths might be, we all somehow walk them as one, for we are all are kindred souls of humanity; (3) it is indeed possible for wayfarers to find the direction—the azimuth—that leads toward more mindfulness of self, others, and God; and (4) when we do see those glimmers of light, there is the responsibility to remember, to give gratitude, to share.
We are all, always and forever, transformed by the paths that we take in life. We should embrace them and invite others to walk them with us. My paths, thus, are extended to you in Trailing the Azimuth. This collection is intended for a wide audience: poetry lovers, adventurers, spiritual seekers, lovers of culture and the diverse human experience, people who love nature, those who appreciate history and literature, travelers to new and varied places, both lay and academic readers, both progressive and traditional readers, and just curious minds.
I look forward to you joining me in the journey!
