Spring for A Poem

Spring for a Poem
It's April Poetry Month and today's featured author and poet is Jane Yolen.

Photo Credit Jason Stemple.com

She's an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 400 books including "Owl Moon", "The Devil’s Arithmetic" and the popular series "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?'

Yolen is also a poet, a teacher of writing and literature, and a reviewer of children’s literature. She has been called the Hans Christian Andersen of America and the Aesop of the twentieth century. Jane Yolen’s books and stories have won the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, the World Fantasy Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Award among many others.

For more information about the author, scheduled events, awards , and book listings check out http://janeyolen.com/

Yolen has been a poet and a poetry lover all her life. She wrote her first poem in first grade. Despite her father's misgivings early on that she couldn't make a living writing poetry, though he liked her poems, she eventually proved him wrong.

My all-time favorite of her books is "Owl Moon" an unrhymed picture book poem, a Caldecott winner. Yolen's daughter Heidi is the little girl featured in this book. Today she is all grown up and lives next door to her mother.

I met Yolen in 2017 at the Tucson Book Festival at one of the author sessions. As an admirer of her work, I inquired at a later date via email if I could post one of her spring poems. She was fine with my posting and sent me several poems. This year I wanted to repost one of the poems so I emailed her again for permission. She did ask me to update her bio. for my posting.

Yes, indeed Jane Yolen rocks. She is now the author of over 400 books with over thirty under contract. She remarried at 82 to an old friend/poet/teacher, both widowed for long periods of time.
Her new adult poetry books: include” KADDISH (which won the Slophie Bridey Award for best Jewish Book of the Year, and THE BLACK DOG POEMS written with husband Peter Tacy.

Children's book in rhyme or verse, EEK YOU REEK (written with daughter Heidi E. Y. Stemple)

WHEN NANA DANCES written with granddaughter Maddison Stemple-Piatt

"Turning the Page"
by Jane Yolen

"Turn the page," said the squirrels, but
nobody did."—Resa Matlock

“Turn the page,” the squirrels say,
less a directive than a hope.
But the trees sit moping
in their winter shawls of snow.
No hope there.

“Turn the page,” the squirrels say,
less a motion than an amendment.
But the snowdrops hide their shy
and drooping white faces.
No hope there.

“Turn the page,” the squirrels say,
less an answer than a question.
But the icicles drip disdain
with every new drop in the temperature.
No hope there.

“Turn the page,” the squirrels say,
less a prayer than the last rites.
No one in the backyard answers Amen.
It’s an old complaint by February.
No hope there.

“Turn the page,” the squirrels say,
less a gasp of life, more a rattle of death.
But then with a wild wind beating
drumsticks across the land,
daffodils break out in garden grins,

And Spring, with a mighty effort
turns the page.

©2017 Jane Yolen all rights reserved