Reinventing August

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit the irrepressible Mary Lee at A Year of Reading for Roundup.

So... it's August! How'd that happen?

Around here I've been working to reinvent August, as for me it is often the doldrums of one kind or another... But no more! I've decided this August will be AWESOME.

coming to you live, from my front porch...If you are interested in the creative process, specifically where ideas come from -- and some words about how I spent my summer vacation -- be sure to visit my post today over at Smack Dab in the Middle, which includes a link to the announcement for one of my forthcoming books! (I love when the announcement is posted, so I can finally talk about a book that's dear to me!)

Meanwhile, I've been reading A LOT (currently FATAL THRONE by M.T. Anderson, Jennifer Donnelly, Candace Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Deborah Hopkinson, Linda Sue Park and Lisa Ann Sandell. What a team, right?) and writing (a new project far to damp and fluttery to talk about just yet).

Did I say, AWESOME? Yep.

Also awesome: Charles Waters and I will be presenting in August at Mississippi Book Festival! And CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? has been selected as a 2018 Book All Young Georgians Should Read. We're so honored and delighted!



Now for a pair of poems that actually appeared in Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong's THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR SCIENCE, but they are on my mind today because it is raining as I type this... and many an August in Alabama has been seized by drought. So kind of on topic, at least in my mind! Thanks so much for reading.


Riddle for a Dry Day
Sun without rainday in, day out.Grass browns, ground frowns.I am a...
DROUGHT.

Riddle for a Wet Day
I overwhelm and overflowwith raging waves and sheets of mud.I leave behind disease and sludge. <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> <br />--> <div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;"><span style="color: #00000a;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">I am an unexpected... </span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;"><span style="color: #00000a;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;"><span style="color: #00000a;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">FLOOD.</span></span></div><br />-<i> Irene Latham</i><br /><br /><iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=..." width="100%"></iframe>