By Staff
Aug. 13, 2003
Ruth Odom Mann said writing has always released her creative spirit.
Mann said when she became an adult, "The innocence of childhood evaporated like the fog that hung low over the lily pond."
She said it's then that she discovered that life is a mixture of pain and joy.
In the book, Mann shares a short story about her childhood growing up in Mathersville and showcases dozens of her favorite poems.
This is one of them:
Rain Dance
The trees bent and swayed
Two stepped, then waltzed.
Their tops kissed the ground
And danced in the water
that was mirrored all around.
Enticing, jubilant
Reflecting the raindrops
That balleted through the sky.
Honeysuckle nectar
Perfumed the air. Sweet lyre.
As the rain danced on.
The wind whistled a song,
A polka and minuet
A quadrille fandango,
As it caravaned there
Teaching the tango
While the rain danced on.
The rain and the wind
Wrote a new melody
And dance to a new song.
Mann is a poet and writer. She grew up in Wayne County and currently lives in Forest. Mann is a nurse practitioner and enjoys painting, sewing and interior decorating. Her daughter, Tara, attends Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans.
"Beyond The Lily Pond" is Mann's first book. She also has about 75 poems featured at Poetry.com.
Book: "Beyond The Lily Pond"
Publisher: Watermark Press
How to order: Available at Midnight Book Store and Mr. Discount Drugs, both in Forest.
Cost: $10
If you are a Mississippi author and would like your book featured in this column, send book and background
information to Penny Randall, The Meridian Star, P.O. Box 1591, Meridian, MS 39302; call: (601) 693-1551 or e-mail:
prandall@themeridianstar.com.