A note from Tayleigh
Happy First-Day-of-Spring-Session-Writing-Workshops!
Our first Writing Workshop of the spring session—William Rubel's—begins this morning at 9 AM Pacific, to be followed by Conner Bassett's at 11 AM Pacific. Today is especially exciting for me because for the first time, I will be joining William's workshop as an assistant! I can't wait to meet all who have signed up. But, even if you've missed the first class, it's not too late. William and Conner discuss different elements of writing each week, and you're welcome to join at any point during the season. You're also welcome to write to me at tayleigh@stonesoup.com if you'd like to test out a class before purchasing tickets, or if you'd like to apply for a scholarship.
You can sign up for both of these classes, as well as Book Club with Maya Mahony, using the blue button, below. A week from today, Maya will lead the first Book Club for Writers of the spring session and discuss A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat. This Book Club is a fantastic way to meet fellow bibliophiles.
Today, I'd like to highlight a poem from our April issue: "Wild" by Rex Huang. "Welcome to our birdbath," he writes. The following stanza meditatively focuses on the little world that exists inside the birdbath. To me, it's a reminder to slow down, to focus on the beauty that is right in our backyards. Of course, panoramic vistas are breathtaking, but so is something as simple as a "crimson red leaf" floating, falling into a birdbath. "And it’s the little things, That make the world."
Savannah Chun's The Stable similarly captures the beauty of the mundane. It is just a stable, and yet it is more. The way the light hits the tops of the eaves, the tree's shadow that seems to almost dance in the wind. It is just a stable, but it is beautiful. For a moment, I'm not focused on a deadline or that item on my to-do list I haven't yet crossed off; I am only focused on the serenity that exists inside that little world inside the painting, the poem, or in my own tiny apartment as the afternoon sun streams in and illuminates the wall.
Until next time,
From Stone Soup
April 2022
Wild
By Rex Huang, 11 (Lake Oswego, OR)
What one may miss once
Will never miss twice
There’s always new
New plant
New wind
New ant hole
And it’s the little things
That make the world
Welcome to our birdbath
A crimson red leaf
Is shed from a tree
Drifting slowly
Slowly
Slowly
Into the crystal-clear reflection of the water
Only disturbed by the ancient moss
That lives there
Spring is coming
New is coming
Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered
in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498.
Stone Soup's advisors: Abby Austin, Mike Axelrod, Annabelle Baird, Jem Burch, Evelyn Chen, Juliet Fraser, Zoe Hall, Montanna Harling, Alicia & Joe Havilland, Lara Katz, Rebecca Kilroy, Christine Leishman, Julie Minnis, Jessica Opolko, Tara Prakash, Denise Prata, Logan Roberts, Emily Tarco, Rebecca Ramos Velasquez, Susan Wilky.
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