Goodbye to a State: A Tour of the State in Photography and Poetry

By Tom Parks

Tom Parks recently retired after 52 years as an educator, most of which he spent driving the crossroads and backroads of South Carolina. During that time, he often photographed sites and scenes that to him reflected some aspect of the state, later coalescing the emerging images into a bittersweet gallery of poetic portraits. He retired as a professor and dean at Clemson University and left the state decades ago, and this book is his fond farewell to a state and a state of mind that helped define who he was, where he had been, and where he was going. An author and editor of over 15 books, he holds four degrees in English, including a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. He has most recently served as host of a PBS television series entitled "In Search of the West Texas Wordsmith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jun 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781645751342

Tom Parks

For over 30 years, Tom Parks travelled the highways and byways of South Carolina and often took photos of scenes that reflected to him the passage of time and place: the state of things in terms of where it has been, where it is now, and where it is going. Now retired and living elsewhere, he leaves this affectionate record of his thoughts and insights from his years in the State Department of Education and Professor and Associate Dean at Clemson University. He holds four degrees in English, including a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.

Book preview

Beheld

About The Author

For over 30 years, Tom Parks traveled the highways and byways of South Carolina and often took photos of scenes that reflected for him the passage of time and place: the state of things in terms of where it has been, where it is now, and where it is going. Now retired and living elsewhere, he leaves this bittersweet record of his thoughts and insights from his years in the State Department of Education, and Professor and Associate Dean at Clemson University. He holds four degrees in English, including a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.

Copyright Information ©

Tom Parks (2020)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a poetry book, which is a product of the author’s imagination. It reflects the author’s recollections of experiences over time. Any resemblance to other works of poetry, quotes, slogans, to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Ordering Information:

Quantity sales: special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Parks, Tom

Goodbye to a State

ISBN 9781645751335 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781645751328 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781645751342 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020908337

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published (2020)

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 28th Floor

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

[phone]

Prologue: From the Mountains to the Sea

    A million motes of circumstance

Sit on the throne to which you bow

And if you read me, I am one

Among them. You may curtsy now.

Your countenance to me is moot

I am untouched and play my part

So infinitesimal a spark

That touched you now and added to

Your sum in cold magnetic ways

An algorithm gone agape

At universes filled in you

Wherein you find me circling there

A part of your equation now

And, thus, approach you circumspect

To lead my tour into your state.

While I continue