Imagine the Possibilities

Throughout our long history, when something’s unfair
When rights need expanding, or wrongs need repair
Americans argue. We march and we cheer.
We write songs and speeches. We go volunteer!
-Rachel C. Katz in Rise Up! Powerful Protests in American History

Happy Poetry Friday and 4^th of July! Mary Lee has the round up today at A(nother) Year of Reading.

Last week Mary Lee invited us to join her and the other Inklings in writing poems of protest this week in celebration of Independence Day. Instead of an original poem, I’m joining in with a review of Rise Up! Powerful Protests in American History! by Rachel C. Katz and Sophie Bass, published by Barefoot Books.

In this powerful, nonfiction picture book told in rhyming verse, Katz focuses on the many ways in which Americans protest. She includes twenty-five moments of resistance and revolution in which protesters act alone or together, sing, write, make art, show up or go away. Each page of rhyming text is accompanied by a text box with a brief description of the event. Some of the events, like the Boston Tea Party or Ruby Bridges’s first day of school, are well-known. Others, like the Capitol Crawl which led to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, offer information on important, lesser-known protests.

Sometimes the reader is directed to turn to the back matter where information on each event is expanded. There are a whopping fourteen pages of back matter including a timeline and a map. In the timeline as well as in her author’s note, Katz reminds us that American history did not begin in 1776, acknowledging the Native Nations that lived on the land before us.

This book can be accessed on many levels – to read and learn, for research, or perhaps simply for inspiration. Katz reminds us that the work is not done. We need to continue to redefine equality and justice in the plan begun by our forefathers and refined through the decades. The book concludes with this challenge:

Use your brain, use your voice, find your personal mission.
Join hands! Join a cause! Join a long, proud tradition!
To point out injustice and make hopes come true,
Protest is needed from people like you!

Thanks for reading!

It’s Poetry Friday!

Last week I received my preorder of Where the Deer Slip Through written by Katey Howes and illustrated by Beth Kommes. Katey was a colleague, fellow poet, and friend who passed away much too young in 2024. I’ve read this book many times already, and each time I notice something new in the words or pictures and feel its calming quality.

The opening lines set the stage:

This is the hedge that grew and grew.
The wall of stone a bit askew.
They guard the yard. The barn does, too.
While just outside, hills roll and rise
away off into the pines.

This is the gap where the deer slip through,
when the sky is still more pink than blue.
Nibble and nudge and startle and dash
away off into the pines.

Using a cumulative structure that follows a day from morning to night, Katey and Beth take us into the wonder of the natural world to meet the creatures that inhabit a tiny farm, or maybe your own backyard. Beth’s characteristic scratchboard panels are the perfect accompaniment to Katey’s lovely rhyming text. It is the kind of book kids will want to fall asleep to and dream about.

It was somewhat serendipitous that the day after receiving the book I came home to find a doe nibbling my hydrangea bushes. It’s not unusual to spot deer wandering in the back yard and I know they visit at night, but this one was quite close to the house in the middle of the afternoon. I like to think it was Katey who came for a spot of afternoon tea.

Afternoon Tea

doe nibbles hydrangea
drinks rain pooled in leaf cups
waits for friends to slip through, too
Draft, RoseCappelli2025

Ruth is hosting the round up today on her blog. She is in the US from her usual home in Uganda and has posted some perfect summer poems about fireflies. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness.