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  • In February 2009 Dr. Gabbin traveled to Florida.  She wrote this poem for Marshall Ulrich, the only person in the world to complete the Triple Crown of Extreme Sports, in recognition of his run from San Francisco to New York in 52 days.  Dr. Gabbin met him when she was a guest at the home of best-selling author Frank McKinney.
Running America
(for Marshall Ulrich)
 
This road is mine to meet.
White line my life, direct it.
This way is good and honest.
There are surprises
And fortunes
Like calves that come in pairs
And fathers, too.
 
This road is mine to meet.
It is not a way from, but to ...
The greening of the spirit
With hills and bridges and rivers
Mapped out eternal.
 
This road is mine to meet.
A perpetual autumn,
But it will winter over
Yet not until some lessons are learned
And things picked up along the way ...
A baby's smile
A fetish for luck
A face staring down fear
A partner holding me up.
 
This road is mine to meet.
This pain does not belong to me.
I will give it away,
And I will embrace instead the day
That brings the promise of sleep.
 
Joanne V. Gabbin
February 15, 2009
Library of Virginia 11th Annual Literary Awards
The finalists for the 2008 poetry award were:

Charles Wright BookR.T. Smith BookConstance Merritt Book

       

R.T. Smith  won the award
Outlaw Style: Poems
The University of Arkansas Press

  In Memoriam

This is dedicated to the lives of those individuals who have passed on since the 2004 Furious Flower Conference.  Furious Flower Poetry Center would like to recognize the contributions of the following individual to the genre of African American Literature

   

Pinkie Gordon Lane passed December 5, 2008.  She was 85 years old.

Dr. Lane was a presenter at the Furious Flower 1994 Poetry Conference,

Dr. Gabbin shared this:   The last time I spoke with her was about six months ago, when I wanted to do an interview with her so that I could work it into our "Shaping Memories" collection.  At first she consented to the interview, and then the day of the interview  she said, "I am done with all of that.  I hope you understand."  And I did.  I will treasure the time she came to our Williamsburg Wintergreen Retreat. She added so much of her charm and wisdom.

Pinkie, rest in peace.  You are now with your beloved husband:

 I am remembering water

that glows in the dawn,

motion tumbled

in earth, life hidden in mounds.

 I am dancing a bright

beam of light.

 I am remembering love.

 

Pinkie Gordon Lane

1923-2008

To learn more about Pinkie Gordon Lane, click here.
 
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