NVN Thursday… AN AUTHOR’S LAMENT
by Lynn Hess
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My wisest friends are letters with whom I have conferred. I often like to join them in small clusters known as words. And frequently we congregate to party or to rage in sentences or paragraphs assembling on a page. My dearest friends are letters. They help transcribe my mind. It doesn’t matter what I write, they never are inclined to call my writing “hazardous to youth” or “outright lies” like novels once revered that now so many stigmatize. Like a precious vintage watch worn by someone of wealth who knows it needs attentive care —it can’t mark time itself— my words need winding in your mind for you to understand their timeliness and that of all the books entitled Banned!
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Lynn Hess is a retired middle-school teacher who, for thirty years, simultaneously conducted weekly poetry-writing workshops for students in grades K through 8. Her poetry has appeared in literary journals, including The Spoon River Quarterly, Aeolian-Harp, Discretionary Love, The Monterey Poetry Review, The Red Eft Review, The MockingOwl Roost, and others. Where Tigers Roar in Silence, a book of her poetry for children, was published by Lime Rock Press. Although Lynn writes mostly in free verse, she also cherishes the musicality of poems composed with rhyme and meter. As an educator, Lynn is especially saddened to see so many of the thought-provoking novels that evoked class discussion removed from library shelves.