A Poet Who Sometimes Dreams in Photographs

Beth Winter and Roger Allen Baut challenged us at New World Creative Union to write a blog to express who we are as well as our creative gifts, talents and abilities. I find it hard to write about myself. I could set down with someone and share almost anything, but to write it I seem to get “tongue” tied. I am excited about learning about others so it is only right I share a bit of who Susie is.

Let me begin…

I am sixty one years old, married to my best friend and verbal sparring partner, Charlie, and I have two beautiful, intelligent daughters, Dawn and Carrie.  Wait! That sounds so “normal.” I am anything but normal as my family loves to point out. A lot of the time I am like a hyperactive child who has been given too much candy. I bounce from thought to thought and place to place with the volume turned on high.

My steps into the world of writing began when I was a freshman in high school. My English teacher, Mrs. Kilgore, introduced me to the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and I was lost in his spell. My first poem was titled, Nightfall. I had accidently included it in an outline of the play Julius Cesar and Mrs. Kilgore discovered it. She asked me if she could have it to submit to a publication, Missouri Youth Writes. I was honored to have it included in their publication. Here is the first stanza. The rest of the poem can be found here. 

As the curtain falls

on the world's idiocy

you will find me sitting

in the audience not asking

for nor wanting an encore.

Throughout high school I wrote, but for most of my adult life my pen went silent. I am not sure why that happened. Perhaps it was my dream to become a journalist that quieted the poet. That dream lasted through a couple of part time semesters at a community college. I was a wife and mother at the time so my priorities were my family. Journalism went on the back burner.

Fast Forward

It seems my fingers have loosened and my tongue has become untied. “All about me” has become easier. I was lost in the past so I decided to not bore with my autobiography any more. So to speak in the now, I am a poet who has found her voice again. I have a new dream which will soon be in print. My first poetry book, Dirt Road Dreams, will be released this fall. I am excited about it. It is a collection first born in the dust of the farming community where I grew up. Through it I am barefoot on gravel, kicking up sand, and dancing in dust. I listened to life around me and wrote its conversations in verse. I am anxious to hold the book in my hands.

One day she would seek freedom from
an existence that held her in restraint,
but for now she sits in dust covered moonlight
immersed in her dirt road dreams

Photographer

One of my passions I have decided to share publicly is photography. I have been a photo buff for years, but it has only been in the last year that I have turned from random picture postings on Facebook to my own photography blog, And There Is More

 Well, this is a little bit about who I am. Life is a magnificent gift that I cherish and live out loud. I am thankful for my family and friends and New World Creative Union for opening its creative arms to welcome my written and visual expressions into their community.  New World Creative Union