Into the woods once more....

In  The Horn Book (a long-running magazine about children's literature), author & folklorist Jane Yolen was asked if she, personally, believed in magic. This is her answer:

"I believe there are prestidigitators who can do card tricks and saw-the-woman-in half tricks. I believe there are politicians who can make us believe up is down and wrong is right. I believe there are preachers who try to sell us a mess of pottage.

"And then I believe that an owl in flight, a hawk in stoop, an otter rising out of the duckweed, a triple rainbow over the Isle of May, the New Jersey skyline as seen from the Highline in Manhattan on a night of the full moon, the small greenings of spring, honeybees on a blossom, and a newborn���s finger curled around mine are small everyday miracles, another word for ordinary magic. And that I believe in."

Do you believe in magic?

The Jane Yolen quote above comes from The Horn Book (January, 2012). The poem in the picture captions is from This Great Unknowing by Denise Levertov (New Directions, 1999). All right reserved by the authors.