tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8303906221917588052.post4828625769144995231..comments2023-10-19T10:51:43.826-04:00Comments on Author Amok: 30 Habits of Highly Effective Poets #24: Barbara Westwood Diehl on GooglingAuthor Amokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13636391982938592789noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8303906221917588052.post-54584126323888041512012-04-25T19:37:42.154-04:002012-04-25T19:37:42.154-04:00This poem made me smile. Thank you!This poem made me smile. Thank you!Jeannine Atkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12886966069866356470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8303906221917588052.post-90648039676383920602012-04-24T20:45:23.637-04:002012-04-24T20:45:23.637-04:00Terrific post, Laura and Barbara! The "bread...Terrific post, Laura and Barbara! The "breadcrumb trails to other words—" is most delicious. I love the "garnet hearts" of the poem. Thank you for sharing.Robyn Hood Blackhttp://www.robynhoodblack.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8303906221917588052.post-77748822866174026962012-04-24T20:23:02.310-04:002012-04-24T20:23:02.310-04:00Laura,
Thanks for asking.
"Cypress Boards&...Laura,<br /><br />Thanks for asking. <br /><br />"Cypress Boards" was in the Fall 2011 issue of The Copperfield Review and can be found at http://www.copperfieldreview.com/poetry/Michael%20Ratcliffe%202.htm<br /><br />"They Rode on Borrowed Horses" was in the Winter 2012 issue and can be found at http://www.copperfieldreview.com/poetry/Ratcliffe%202012.htm<br /><br />They are both part of my "Skimino Cycle" series, all of which can be found on my blog at http://skiminocycle.blogspot.comMichael Ratcliffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02469869423353363535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8303906221917588052.post-15634970415556645262012-04-24T20:10:07.052-04:002012-04-24T20:10:07.052-04:00Hi, Mike. Would you like to post links to those po...Hi, Mike. Would you like to post links to those poems if they are still up at The Copperfield Review?Author Amokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13636391982938592789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8303906221917588052.post-77299847797661533272012-04-24T19:53:04.783-04:002012-04-24T19:53:04.783-04:00I've written a series of poems based in family...I've written a series of poems based in family history and Google has been valuable in researching facts and other background information. Many of these poems have as their basis a particular event; information found via Google provides the details that help bring the event (and the poem) to life. My poem "Cypress Boards" (published in the Copperfield Review) started with my g-g-g-g-grandfather's sale of 350 cypress boards in Williamsburg, VA in 1805 to pay his deceased brother's fines for not mustering for militia training. For the poem, I wanted to know the properties of cypress as a building material-- for what would it have been used; what was the grain like; and other aspects that helped form my vision of him cutting cutting cypress boards. In "They Rode on Borrowed Horses" (also in The Copperfield Review), which focuses on my great-great-grandparents' elopement and marriage, I used Google to research the meaning of the saying "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue," and in the process learned that brides in the first half of the 19th century typically wore blue and not white. "Blue" features throughout the poem-- her blue gingham dress, blue November skies, a blue ribbon to tie back her hair, and the two blue glasses he made for her (he was a glass cutter in Wheeling) as a wedding gift (the two glasses feature in other poems; only one has survived, passed down in the family).<br /><br />I could've found all this information at the library, but the Internet made it much easier and more efficient to find information quickly.Michael Ratcliffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02469869423353363535noreply@blogger.com