My friend, poet-librarian, Linda Mitchell nudged me to follow her colleague Hope Dublin’s Instagram @hopesview2021. As I perused her amazing photographs, this one grabbed me. It seemed to be asking to be a poem.
I take pictures of things that hold beauty or intrigue. Sometimes it is a bit of both.
I can’t wait to read the words inspired by the photo. It was taken at Riverview Cemetery in Strasburg, Virginia. The title of the book is The Last Unicorn, a fantasy novel by Peter S. Beagle, published in 1968. I go on a lot of walks and one of my favorite places to walk is a cemetery. They are peaceful, beautiful, filled with hints at history, or stories waiting to be told.
I should also tell you that I discovered the book in a little free library and happened to be carrying it on my walk. I put it down to take a picture and thought it made a more interesting image than the gravestone I was originally going to take a picture of at the time. The book was opened on a random page but happened to be page 13.
Hope Dublin
Join me today in this cemetery with your book in hand. What is it about? Why do you carry it with you? Who is present in this place? Write a small poem in the comments or link to your blogpost. Leave encouraging comments for other writers. (I am happy with my draft, and that is not something I say every day.)
Sometimes we carve our stories
Margaret Simon, draft
onto headstones
for the world to notice.
Sometimes our stories hide
inside dandelion seeds
blowing in the wind.
Sometimes, our stories are told
over & over time until
someone has memorized
the words.
Reflections on the Teche 