The first time I heard Little Gidding was in a secret literary society, a group who met under the cover of night back in college. Just like it sounds, the group was very Dead Poet’s Society, and this particular night was my first time to timidly grace the doors of the unknown literary fervor. As a Robin Williams figure enthusiastically recited and explicated the poem, I was spellbound, letting the words wash over me for the rest of the night.  A few years later I actually visited Little Gidding, an old religious community in England that inspired Eliot’s poem. For years, I’ve found great comfort in Eliot’s questions, his complex desire for simplicity, and his hope that all shall be well. Plus, the poem is breathtakingly beautiful. In the text, Eliot shows the goodness of sacrifice and necessity of suffering to unifying a fractured self and broken society.  What he says about love, time, memory, and suffering resonates with me and at the same time is beyond me. I can read and study it for days and still not completely grasp all the allusions and plumb the depths of its significance. And so it continually draws me back to ruminate on its queries and feed on its hope.

Little Gidding  by T.S. Eliot, section V

What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make and end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. And every phrase
And sentence that is right (where every word is at home,
Taking its place to support the others,
The word neither diffident nor ostentatious,
An easy commerce of the old and the new,
The common word exact without vulgarity,
The formal word precise but not pedantic,
The complete consort dancing together)
Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning,
Every poem an epitaph. And any action
Is a step to the block, to the fire, down the sea’s throat
Or to an illegible stone: and that is where we start.
We die with the dying:
See, they depart, and we go with them.
We are born with the dead:
See, they return, and bring us with them.
The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew-tree
Are of equal duration. A people without history
Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern
Of timeless moments. So, while the light fails
On a winter’s afternoon, in a secluded chapel
History is now and England.

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree

Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always–
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flames are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

You can read the full poem here.

Bonus: You should check out Makoto Fujimura’s artistic representation of the Four Quartets found here– http://www.makotofujimura.com/works/four-quartets/

The Thickety: A Path Begins is J. A. White’s first volume in the Thickety series, and my first book to write about in a blog. I’m new to Lemuria and completely new to blogging.

When I first started working at Lemuria I was really excited about all of the books that were now at my fingertips. I was especially drawn to the Young Adult and Middle Grade sections in OZ (our young readers room) when I noticed so many books that I had already read as well as books that I had been wanting to read. Based on my fondness of this area and on some of the previous series I have read, it was suggested to me to read The Thickety; and trust me, I’m glad I did. Think Harry Potter meets The Giver. Amazing.

In Thickety, the villagers of De’Noran only have one thought: “There is no such thing as a good witch.” This is the thought that Kara Westfall grew up with, yet her mother was a witch. So, could it really be true that no witch is good? Or that nothing good could come from using magic? Kara has to go day to day being pushed aside because of her mother’s past with magic. She is treated worst of all by Grace, a girl in her class who belittles her and uses her to get things she wants. Kara soon learns of her own magical powers, and must figure out how to control them. She has to realize that she has enough honor and kindness to control her powers and use them for good. Others seem to only want magic and power to themselves. This leads to much devastation in the town of De’Noran, only making the villagers want magic gone for good.

Thickety lets you travel through a world filled with spells, magical creatures, and evil, while teaching you that doing good and being a better person will get you somewhere in life, and being a bully or trying to use people for your own advantage….well, won’t.

I’m definitely glad I followed up on that suggestion and basically spent my whole day off from work in the pages of this book. I really feel like kids in grades 4th through 7th will love this series. Even as an adult, I found this book very entertaining and it was difficult for me to put down. Now, I’m on to the second book!

Author J.A. White will be here this afternoon at 4:30 to sign the newest book in the Thickety series: Thickety: The Whispering Trees. Don’t miss it!

I am going to confess something to y’all. I do not read poetry. I just don’t get it. When a customer comes in looking for poetry, I am crossing my fingers that they ask for a poet that I know about, especially if Adie is not working. I am always passing a poetry customer over to Adie (our resident poet) because she will be able to help them so much more than I could ever think about.

Hannah sent an email out asking us to write a poetry blog to celebrate April being National Poetry Month. I immediately broke out in a sweat. I was discussing my dilemma with Jamie saying that really the only poetry I have ever loved was some I had read as a child. He urged me to write about it.

I loved Shel Silverstein when I was young. I had poems memorized and would recite them when I thought the time was right. So today I went in OZ and picked up a copies of Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic and found some poems to share with you.

HUG O’ WAR

I will not play at tug o’ war.
I’d rather play at hug o’ war,
Were everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.

 

LISTEN TO THE MUSTN’TS

Listen to the MUSTN’TS, child,
Listen to the DON’TS
Listen to the SHOULDN’TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me —
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

 

NO DIFFERENCE

Small as a peanut,
Big as a giant,
We’re all the same size
When we turn off the light.

Rich as a sultan,
Poor as a mite,
We’re all worth the same
When we turn off the light.

Red, black or orange,
Yellow or white,
We all look the same
When we turn off the light.

So maybe the way
To make everything right
Is for God to just reach out
And turn off the light!

 

CHANNELS

Channel 1’s no fun.
Channel 2’s just news.
Channel 3’s hard to see.
Channel 4 is just a bore.
Channel 5 is all jive.
Channel 6 needs to be fixed.
Channel 7 and Channel 8–
Just old movies, not so great.
Channel 9’s a waste of time.
Channel 10 is off, my child.
Wouldn’t you like to talk awhile?

 

SENSES

A Mouth was talking to a Nose and an Eye.
A passing listening Ear
Said “Pardon me, but you spoke so loud,
I couldn’t help but overhear.”
But the Mouth just closed and the Nose turned up
And the Eye just looked away,
And the Ear with nothing more to hear
Went sadly on its way.

 

I just felt the time was right.

This week is a big week for children’s events at Lemuria Bookstore! Stop by to meet the authors and hear them read from their books.

HESTER BASS will be here on Tuesday April 7 at 3:30 p.m.

Hester Bass is the author of the picture book biography The Secret World of Walter Anderson, which won an Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children and a SIBA award; and is illustrated by E.B. Lewis. Her newest picture book is Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville, Alabama and is also illustrated by E.B. Lewis. Formerly residing in Huntsville, Alabama, she now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her biography (and Lewis’ illustrations) on Mississippi artist Walter Anderson capture the spirit of the Mississippi coast and the artist’s life. Bass writes, “Art was an adventure, and Walter Anderson was an explorer, first class.”
Lewis’s watercolors pay homage from one watercolorist to another. Likewise, the medium of watercolor is useful in depicting the peaceful integration in Huntsville, Alabama in 1963. The book is
illustrated in a combination of muted grays, browns, whites, and bright blues, and there is a beautifully illustrated scene with children releasing colorful balloons in the air. Lewis’ illustrations and Bass’ writing introduce children to interesting people and history in the South.

J.A. WHITE will be here Wednesday April 8 at 4:30 p.m.

J.A. White is the author of The Thickety series. For fans of Neil Gaiman, The Thickety series feels like a modern-day tale from the Brothers Grimm. J.A. White’s first book, The Thickety: A Path Begins, was chosen as Publisher’s Weekly Best book and was on several “Best Summer Reading for Kids” lists including Washington Post’s Summer Book Club and Huffington Post’s “Summer Reading List for Kids.” Discover the second installment in this hit-series with The Thickety: The Whispering Trees. Kara and Taff have ridden into the Thickety with no hope of returning to the village. What’s beyond the Thickety? Join J.A. White on April 8 at Lemuria to find out!