SF 65

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Springfed #65

Bird in the Overhang

Jennifer Gittings-Dalton

Descended from Welsh coal miners and Scots-Irish pioneers, Jen Gittings-Dalton's roots in Pennsylvania go deep. But a childhood spent in various Asian countries overlaid that heritage with an inescapable awareness of relativity that drives her love of cultures, words, and the natural world. Coming home to live “forever after” in small Pa. towns has convinced her that poetry is both a transcendent and a common art, one to reclaim in everyday American life.

A poet, writer, counselor, and speaker, she has produced three books of poetry: the self-published Pleiades Memoir (2000) and Sixteen Laments (2002), and this chapbook, Bird in the Overhang, published by FootHills Publishing (2007). Her poem, “Elegy for the Poet in August,” placed 7th in the Mulberry Poets and Writers Competition in 2002 and was published in their annual journal, and other work has appeared in the textbook “No Barriers,” by Indenbaum and Indenbaum. She teaches summer writing workshops for high school students, is a private writing coach, and is an adjunct professor for Reading Area Community College. Also a freelance writer, she specializes in covering the local arts and cultural scene for the Berks Arts Council and for various publications

She holds a master's degree in education (school counseling) from Kutztown University, and dual undergraduate degrees in psychology and religious studies from the University of Pittsburgh. For more than fifteen years she was privileged to counsel thousands of diverse students in colleges, public schools, and agencies. She is an advocate of the arts as a way to help people transform their lives, and to build community through shared creative work. She presents workshops and speaks in area churches on the arts, spirituality and nature. She lives in Exeter with her husband, Stan; and is proud of her adult children, Jessica and Ben.

From the Book:

Wickline Road

there we sat and hugged our knees

berry-pricked and stained

time collapsed and bees swung

through the thickets searching

for our fleeing souls

never, not even after we became

mothers, you mine and I in a sense

yours, did we ever return

even though we tried and tried

but that day we did not know it

bowered in the sacred gloom we imagined ourselves

alive in secret realms, brushing the dangling inchworm

away, rocking and singing alone

the only fairy for miles and miles around

and maybe ever, was us,

celebrant and undiscovered in the weeds

and what a good thing we never knew

ringed in with goldenrod

shins glowing green in apple leaf light

beside us on the bare ground wilted

daisies and Indian paintbrush, stems

released from our damp hands

while around us the room in the thicket withdrew,

with us inside forever, and we who now know,

circle as through a veil, reaching for those children,

who in that hour never needed us nor we them

Hand-stitched chapbook.

Six Dollars.

TO ORDER Bird in the Overhang ON-LINE

To order through the mail click here.


	FootHills Publishing \| home Submitting to FootHills \| Springfed Chapbook Series \| Springfed Poets \| SF through 52 \| SF 53, 54 \| SF 56, 57, 58 \| SF 59, 60, 61 \| SF 62, 63 \| SF 64 \| SF 65 \| SF 66 \| SF 67 \| SF 68 \| Zimmerman \| Ordering by Mail \| Contact FHP Springfed #65 Bird in the Overhang Jennifer Gittings-Dalton Descended from Welsh coal miners and Scots-Irish pioneers, Jen Gittings-Dalton's roots in Pennsylvania go deep. But a childhood spent in various Asian countries overlaid that heritage with an inescapable awareness of relativity that drives her love of cultures, words, and the natural world. Coming home to live “forever after” in small Pa. towns has convinced her that poetry is both a transcendent and a common art, one to reclaim in everyday American life. A poet, writer, counselor, and speaker, she has produced three books of poetry: the self-published Pleiades Memoir (2000) and Sixteen Laments (2002), and this chapbook, Bird in the Overhang, published by FootHills Publishing (2007). Her poem, “Elegy for the Poet in August,” placed 7th in the Mulberry Poets and Writers Competition in 2002 and was published in their annual journal, and other work has appeared in the textbook “No Barriers,” by Indenbaum and Indenbaum. She teaches summer writing workshops for high school students, is a private writing coach, and is an adjunct professor for Reading Area Community College. Also a freelance writer, she specializes in covering the local arts and cultural scene for the Berks Arts Council and for various publications She holds a master's degree in education (school counseling) from Kutztown University, and dual undergraduate degrees in psychology and religious studies from the University of Pittsburgh. For more than fifteen years she was privileged to counsel thousands of diverse students in colleges, public schools, and agencies. She is an advocate of the arts as a way to help people transform their lives, and to build community through shared creative work. She presents workshops and speaks in area churches on the arts, spirituality and nature. She lives in Exeter with her husband, Stan; and is proud of her adult children, Jessica and Ben. From the Book: Wickline Road there we sat and hugged our knees berry-pricked and stained time collapsed and bees swung through the thickets searching for our fleeing souls never, not even after we became mothers, you mine and I in a sense yours, did we ever return even though we tried and tried but that day we did not know it bowered in the sacred gloom we imagined ourselves alive in secret realms, brushing the dangling inchworm away, rocking and singing alone the only fairy for miles and miles around and maybe ever, was us, celebrant and undiscovered in the weeds and what a good thing we never knew ringed in with goldenrod shins glowing green in apple leaf light beside us on the bare ground wilted daisies and Indian paintbrush, stems released from our damp hands while around us the room in the thicket withdrew, with us inside forever, and we who now know, circle as through a veil, reaching for those children, who in that hour never needed us nor we them Hand-stitched chapbook. Six Dollars. TO ORDER Bird in the Overhang ON-LINE To order through the mail click here.