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Archiver > KYCLAY > 1999-04 > 0923353741


From: Wanda Day <>
Subject: Re: [KYCLAY-L] Rhymes on Lines
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 18:09:01 -0500


Mr. Jess,

Thanks for sharing this information on poetry. My 5th grade students maintain
a website called Poetry Post:

http://www.mecca.org/~graham/Poetry_Post.html

Through this website, we invite others to create and submit poems that describe
'your little corner of the world.' My students also have senior keypals, and
we're hoping their keypals will contribute a poem or two. We'd be honored if
you'd care to submit a poem about Clay County. My students will enjoy reading
your stories and poems and your description of poetry as part of folk culture.

I'd love to have a copy of your booklet. I'll send you $10.00 plus shipping
when I receive RHYMES ON LINES (please include The Ballad of Pearl Bryant).

Regards,

Wanda Day
2551 Rosehaven
Germantown, TN 38138

Jess Wilson wrote:
>
> The writing and reading of poetry seems to be a dead duck in the
> minds of most of us common folk. I get the impression from
> trying to read the poems in the New Yorker Magazine or listening
> to some aspiring poets at a few writer’s workshops that if the
> composition has any rhyme, rhythm or reason to any one besides
> the writer, that it isn’t poetry.
> I have always liked to play with words, I think I got
> the habit from my father. During my lifetime I have written a
> few that I believe have some thyme, rhythm and reason. At least
> I enjoy reading them again, occasionally.
> One problem aspiring poets have is finding people who
> would enjoy reading their compositions. So if there be any among
> us that might enjoy my musings, I have printed a 32 page booklet
> of them. As you open the book, the poem is on the right hand
> page. On the left is a short story about how I happened to write
> the poem. Each is set in a decorative frame. Some of the stories
> are better reading than the poem.
> To relieve anyone’s doubts about my intentions, the
> entire proceeds of $10.00 per copy goes to the Clay County
> Genealogical and Historical Society. So, if you want a copy,
> make your check payable to the society and mail to me. Or make
> your request with a mailing address and send the check when you
> receive your copy of RHYMES ON LINES , if you think the poems
> are worth reading on a rainy day.
> There was a time when poetry was part of the folk
> culture. witness some very good lines found on old outhouse
> walls. People with limited education some times recorded
> unusual events by relating the event in verse. Sometimes it was
> doggerel but people listened to it recited or sung. A good
> example is The Ballad of Pearl Bryant, that recounted the murder
> of a girl near Cincinnati many years ago. The body was found but
> it had no head. The writer, unknown, ended his verses with this
> verse;
> So you girls who fall in love
> You still may be misled:
> Don’t take any hasty action,
> Oh, girls, don’t lose your head.
>
> At Ruth’s request I did not include this. However, I’ll
> print some separate and slip one in each copy and if you don’t
> care for that sort of thing you can drop it in the waste can.
> JESS WILSON
> POSSUM TROT ROAD
> MANCHESTER KY 40962

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