From the Mountains to the Coastal Plain: A Poet's Journey

By Judith DeBoard Donnalley

This book of poetry is a compilation of memories and reflections of the author's journeys. As a young teacher/librarian, she took a journey leaving the mountains of West Virginia and traveling to the eastern plain of North Carolina to teach at East Carolina University. Some of her poems look back to her days in West Virginia, and others reflect on her life in Eastern North Carolina.

Journeys are not only taken in cars and jets but are also realized through the psyche, the mind, and spirit. The poem "Across the River" deals with the journey through some hardship and how the experience can impact the traveler. Human relationship journeys, such as in "Misunderstandings" tells how a faux pas between people can possibly build a stronger bond.

The reader may identify with some of the author's experiences in "The Good Humor Truck." Some humor has been sprinkled through when asking "Where Are the Cupholders?" And we can't forget about journeys through love. To look for something of value in establishing a lasting union, turn to the poem "Love's Foundation."

It is hoped the reader will find something to ponder while traveling through these journeys and reflections. There is a quotation by Henrietta Boggs, an American who served as first lady of Costa Rica, 1948-1949, who successfully pushed for giving Costa Rican women the right to vote.

Satisfaction comes in the struggle itself rather than achieving it. The journey is half the fun, and the journey continues.

--Henrietta Boggs

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781636925882

Book preview

Contents

I. Poems: Stories and Reflections

Across the River

A Birthday Gift for Bess

Choices

A Bond

Dreams

False Desire

Free Yourself

The Good Humor Truck

I Can

Invitation

Karaoke!

Life’s Miracle

Love’s Foundation

Magical Moments

Misunderstandings

My Crusade

My Search

A New Kind of Hero

Passion

Pat’s Gold Cadillac

Peaches

The Personal Ads

Picture in My Mind

The Power of a Rose

Santa’s Spirit

Spirit

The Singles Dance

The Symposium

Tear Down Those Walls

When You’re Retired

Where Are the Cupholders?

Where Have Those Boots Been?

Why?

The Window

A Wish

The Yellow Rose Saloon

Yum Yum

Stand Down

II. Poems: Gypsy, Jason, To Lora

Gypsy

Jason

To Lora

Epilogue: Memories

About the Author

I. Poems

Stories and Reflections

Across the River

Have you ever had some trouble

you thought would never pass,

the whole world crumbling under you

like broken crystal glass?

Stop, and look across the river

to that far and distant shore,

where soft winds blow, and

you’re free to be yourself once more.

Stop, and look across the river

in your lost hope and despair,

and know your present journey

is what must take you there.

And when your journey’s over

standing on that distant shore,

you’ll be a different person

from the one you were before.

For the journeys we travel

mold our lives, our very being,

taking us to better places, when we

meet the challenges these journeys bring.

So remember, this journey

will pass away in time,

but you have to take it now

to reach the other side.

A Birthday Gift for Bess

On July the fourth, Bess will be ten,

and she can hardly wait until then;

to receive the special gift of her dreams,

as she celebrates her day with cake and ice cream.

For of all the gifts Bess might discover,

there is one she wants more than any other;

she would be the only girl she knows to have one,

but why should those rowdy boys have all the fun?

Yes, the toy Bess wants on her special day of the year,

isn’t a tea set, a ring, or a Tiny Tears;

not a china set or a little play house,

not a Barbie doll or a stuffed Mickey Mouse.

But a train, with a depot and lots of track,

with an engine to pull cars over bridges and back;

so she runs to tell her father before it’s too late,

and he buys her a ring or white roller skates.