David Harrison featured on Poetry from Daily Life

Hi everyone,

Time for me to take another turn on Poetry from Daily Life. I’m in today’s print issue of Springfield News-Leader and tomorrow’s e-edition. I’ll share the link to that one when I get it. I’m delighted that five other newspapers carry the column, too, but I’m not sure which days.

In this column, I share a trick taught to me by an elementary teacher as a good way for kids to introduce themselves at the beginning of a new school year. I think it’s a charming, human experience that we can all use at any age whether we are introducing ourselves to someone else or taking personal stock of what matters to us. I hope you will agree.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Hi everyone,

I wish you a good day and/or good memories on this day to honor love. Last night we ate at a local restaurant that featured a live band.

This afternoon we have tickets for “Timeless Love: Songs through the Ages Valentine’s Day Musical Revue” and tonight we’ll eat at Basmati’s Asian Cuisine our favorite restaurant in the area. One day years ago we ate there with LARRY AND MARYANN WAKEFIELD. The restaurant has a porched area with a tin roof.

A steady rain entertained us while holding us there, living in the moment, well into the afternoon. Tonight we will remember that one-of-a-kind time with treasured friends and toast to them with our glasses high. We miss you, Larry. Maryann, how we wish you were here with us.

My Word of the Month poem

Hi everyone,

A couple of days ago Sandy and I enjoyed a return visit to Eden Gardens. I came out, as one sometimes does, with the idea for a poem. Here is my bravo-inspired contribution for February.

A Speck on a Table

We strolled around the antebellum mansion,
meandered the long, shady lawn
toward the water, coming eventually
to a picnic table with a view of the bayou.
There we rested on a bench to watch
some gulls glide around the water.
.
Glancing down at the weathered tabletop,
I noticed a small black spot.
Without my glasses, I couldn’t tell
if it was a miniscule bug or just a fleck
of something carried there on the wind.

I looked out again at what we came to see –
gulls and now two pelicans, skimming the surface –
but drawn by the dot, I looked back down.
It was not in the same place.

Could this thing fly? Did it hop three inches?
Could it mate with others of its kind,
lay eggs too small to see without a microscope?
Or was it just a speck of matter
breathed on the breeze across the top of the table?

Going home in the car, we talked briefly
about the mansion and its sphagnum-haunted trees.
But neither they nor the birds or leaping fish
had captured me as much 
as that speck on the picnic table.
The unknowable dot sent me away
with a memory worth pondering.
Bravo, dot.

© 2025 David L. Harrison, all rights reserved

A summary

Hi everyone,

A friend who is working on an article asked how many books I’ve had published. It has been a while since I last checked so one thing led to another until what she got was a great deal more than she asked for or needs. I’ve been flailing away at this writing business over a span of seven decades, so things accumulate. And because I’m now up to date I’ll record the summary here, too, so I can find it again if anyone else asks.

110     books published (91 trade books, 18 education books for teachers, 1 autobiography)
    2     books under contract
    3     plays inspired by my work or co-written
    1     early literacy program with 80 poems, co-written for the 11th largest   public school district in America (178,000 students)
    1     90-minute PBS documentary, placed in the Library of Congress permanent collection for works of distinction.
  10     poems arranged as songs and performed by a musical group
100+   articles (and interviews) in magazines, newspapers, journals, internet,     etc. 
200+   poems or selections from my work in anthologies, texts, state reading tests, etc.
    1	poem sandblasted into a library sidewalk in Arizona
    1	poem painted on a bookmobile in Colorado
  12     translations into other languages
    3     chapters about poetry written for education books
    2     introductions written for books by others

Angela Jackson featured on Poetry from Daily Life

Hi everyone,

The Illinois Poet Laureate is my guest today on Poetry from Daily Life. ANGELA JACKSON has been writing poetry since she was a little girl. Today the multi-talented Chicago-based writer serves her state as its spokesman for poetry. I’m happy to add Angela to the growing list of voices with thoughtful things to tell us about poetry. Here’s the link to her column that appeared yesterday in Springfield (MO) News-Leader. https://www.news-leader.com/story/entertainment/2025/02/09/poetry-from-daily-life-start-with-memory-let-imagination-roam/78260763007/

You know I’m gong to say this because I say it every week: Please share this link with all you know who will also enjoy reading Angela’s words. Her column will be available to more than 105,000 readers this week in six newspapers in three states, but by using your own networks, we reach many more. Thank you Angela Jackson!