Today I am pleased to have a special guest. When Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, author of REACHING FOR SUN, told me she was planning a blog tour, I was delighted to be included.
In Maine it's snowing today, but Tracie's beautiful verse novel puts me in another place. . .right in the middle of a long summer afternoon of electric-blue dragonflies, sun-warmed rocks, and the gently bobbing heads of flowers.
So turn away from what's outside your own window and come barefoot with Tracie and me on a slow walk through her book's garden.
Excerpts from REACHING FOR SUN by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
From Poppies
When poppies bloom
the same red
as a Chinese wedding dress--
satiny cups with ruffled edges,
purplish black eyes--
they're a prize for patience,
and if I take all that trouble
to say something
I promise
to try
to make it worth
the wait too.
Me: In Reaching for Sun, Josie has cerebral palsy. What led you to write about a character with that disability?
Tracie: My first teaching position was in special education. I taught high school students with autism and middle school students with developmental disabilities. The kids who stole my heart were the ones- like Josie- who were so aware of what others thought. I wanted to write from a main character’s point of view that just happened to have a major disability (but like anyone) is ordinary- filled with snotty girls, arguing with her mom, a first kiss.
From Searching
“How do you know the name
of every plant?”
I shrug. “Always have.”
Jordan catches an inchworm,
puts it on my palm.
We watch it fold itself
again and again
up my arm
to my smiling face.
Me: Are you a gardener yourself, Tracie? I’m curious where this obvious love of plants came from in your own life?
Tracie: Writing has replaced most of my gardening time (though I once had a fair size perennial border) and I think writing SUN was a way for me to spend time in one again. All my granny’s had gardens (and I was lucky enough to have three grans!) one had a vegetable garden, one had lovely peonies (pronounce “pie-knees” with her lovely accent) and one had four o’clocks and sweet peas that tangled up her porch.
From Jewels
The golden bushes out front
called forsythia are blooming now—
their long arms
trying to waltz with wind.
Me: Tracie, this image is so lovely. In poetry, because there are so few words, each one carries such importance. What’s in your mind as you’re choosing words and images to keep and cut?
Tracie: I think I spend more time cutting in free verse than writing. It’s more like sculpting that way- picking off the pieces that don’t belong until your left only what’s elemental. I do a lot of first hand observation when I can too. It’s an excuse to go outside and look.
From Wildflower Mix
But I’m sick of spending
all my time
working on what’s wrong
with me.
I don’t want to be
pruned or pinched back
like a wilting petunia.
I want this summer
to be a wildflower-seed mix
and me, surprised
by what blooms.
Me: This poem speaks to me, as a parent of a child with a disability. It is hard to balance the need for consistency in therapy with allowing children to have that downtime that everyone requires.
What were your own summers like as a child? Were they more like Josie’s: neatly-planned rows of petunias? Or surprising wildflower mixes?
Tracie: Summers were definitely wildflower seed mixes for me. My twin sister and I would do most anything- build derby cars, explore the creek, make hideous tasting cookies. No playdates- no camps, just long stretches of discovery. I wish more kids got to grow up like that today.
From Reaching
And me,
I’m the wisteria vine
growing up the arbor of this
odd family,
reaching for sun.
Me: How lovely! If I were to choose a plant in my own yard that I am most like, I would pick a violet. They grow wild in my lawn and they are both ordinary from afar and fierce and exotic up close. I wouldn’t say I’m those adjectives necessarily, but I have sharp contrasts in me.
What plant or flower do you think you are the most like?
Tracie: Bee Balm, maybe. It’s not attractive in a traditional way and it’s useful. I want to be useful.
Me: Tracie, you are more than useful! You have given the world a special and beautiful book, and I'm delighted to see the wonderful response it's receiving.
Now, how about that question for everyone. . .what plant or flower are you most like?
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cynthialord) wrote,
happy
