Lillie D. Chaffin served as the editor of this little pamphlet of 23 pages and was a Kentucky Poet Laureate and a literature award in the name of her and her husband is still being awarded by Morehead State University. She was the author of several chap books and the Appalachian children's book "We Be Warm Till Springtime Comes", which is one of my favorites in all of Appalachian Literature. This book we are discussing here was published under the name of Poetry Press, Pikeville, Kentucky, and I suspect was only issued in a small number of copies, most likely less than 1,000. It also may very well have been self-published in some cooperative arrangement by the poets included. It will be difficult to locate if you decide you want to try to find a copy. I bought it in a pile of rare Appalachian books and pamphlets out of a partial estate a friend of mine bought in Morgan County Kentucky. The stated theme of the poetry is "Marriage" which is not in the title on the cover but is on the inside cover as a part of the publication information.
The only poet of any note besides Lillie D. Chaffin to be included is Jane Stuart, the daughter of Jesse Stuart. In my estimation, her poem is not particularly good. The list of other poets includes Mildred Williams Boggs, Camella Joy Schreyer Thompson, Lois Duncan, Rae Cross, Jan Faires, Frederika Blankner, Jan Seale, Lena Winston, Lyn Lifshin, Thelma Scott Kiser, Phyllis Maples, Travis, Du Priest, Nell Abbott, Mary Newton Baldwin, Florence Holmes Ryan, L. R. Wagner, Fred W. Wright Jr., and Harry Brown. I always try to include a full author list when I locate and write about these small edition books and pamphlets since it is sometimes possible that surviving family members of authors will not even know that the writing by their family member ever saw print. If you turn out to be one of those people with a connection to an author, I sincerely hope you locate a copy.
For me, the best poem in the book is "Discovery After Marriage" by Lois Duncan. It is composed of four stanzas with a loose and irregular rhyming pattern which occurs in only part of the lines. But it is well worth reading. The first stanza reads:
"I, who was never beautiful before you came,
I, who turned my face when loveliness passed by,
Oh, suddenly there is nothing in the world as beautiful as I!"
The poem then progresses through two more stanzas describing how a body "which has lain asleep so long...could be stirred to flame." That is a good way to end a stanza about improved self image if I ever saw one.
The fourth and concluding stanza reads:
"I am a silent bird who finds that it can sing.
I am a tree who stood all winter long with branches cold and bare
And now I wake, and it is spring."
In my opinion, that is poetry worth reading. If you find a copy of this little pamphlet somewhere, preserve it, read it, enjoy it, and pass it on to someone else with similar interests when you feel ready to die. Or donate it to the special collections department of some Appalachian college library.
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