What do you do when you find out you’ve got a little bit of Hollywood in the family? You write a poem about it!
By the picture you might think I’m suggesting I’m related to the talented and beautiful Vivien Leigh…..well, not quite! Through my beloved late grandmother, Wilma Dare Hash Thomas, I’m a distant cousin of Addie Hash Warp, the woman who doubled for Vivien Leigh in that famous staircase tumble in Gone with the Wind.
Unfortunately, I never met Addie (who passed away in 2008) but she was a renowned equestrienne who also doubled for Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet, among other movie roles. In Addie’s own words, “I was black and blue for a while. But I knew how to fall.”
In honor of Addie (and of course Vivien), I wrote a poem “Self-Portrait of Stunt Double for Vivien Leigh Falling Down the Stairs in Gone with the Wind” that appears in Turnpike Magazine, Issue No. 4. Here I focus on the jitters I imagine must face all stunt people, no matter how experienced they are, when faced with the daunting task of falling down a long staircase AND filling in for a star. Can you imagine? As for me, I’m a chicken who’s only been on a horse once in her life.
Turnpike also kindly published my poem “Ode to the Goddess of Missing Tools,” which is a comic tribute to my husband and all the tools that mysteriously slip through the cracks of our house. There’s a little bit of magic at work here, I’m sure.
The fun of a “self-portrait” style poem is that you can imagine yourself as anyone, famous or not, and write from their point of view. It’s a terrific form of escapism and creativity. So….if you’ve always been fascinated by someone and would like to walk (or fall!) in their shoes, give this prompt a try today.
For Halloween, Buster, our little corgi-mix, decided to try a new look. Born with a hastily-tied white “Ascot” around his neck, he decided to switch things up this year. So he’s preening around in a hot dog bun. Hold the onions, please.
Our jalapeno peppers truly hit their stride this fall, blessing us with a bountiful crop, even in October. So why not put a little kick in your own writing? When I think of the unexpected, Shirley Jackson always comes to mind. In her short story, 
Gardening constantly surprises–with “volunteer” crops springing up in the most unexpected places. And this year, we had a volunteer loofah plant! When the seeds of last year’s crop fell through the deck, a new vine entwined its way up the retaining wall.
poem features a romp through a haunted cherry orchard and an encounter with a waif-sprite with a fondness for sweet cherries.
Living in the country makes it easy to channel my inner chicken on the tricky topic of submission.
In celebration of today (June 7) being 
Ever been bitten by a fire ant? If so, it is not an experience you’ll easily forget.
Today I share a story about a donkey that began as a story about three. To the left is Gertrude, the mother of little Pedro, just 5 days old on the day this picture was taken!
You don’t have to open a book to plunge into the history of our state. Try visiting a little town like Ether. Although they often fell victim to North Carolina’s all-too-brief gold rush or the decline of our textile mills, these little communities are coping in their own way. And even with tiny populations, many of these towns still have enough life to make a visit a rewarding and poignant experience.
On a lighter note, for today (Day #13), the subject is donuts, a prompt suggested by Faisal Mohyuddin, one of the 9 poets writing as part of the 30/30 Tupelo Press Poetry Project in April. My poem is titled “
Ashley Harris 