AUTHOR NOTES

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“THE TEA PARTY” was probably written to satisfy a school assignment when the author was young. The poem describes an actual occurrence in her home and the boy was her younger brother John, later called Jack. The poem was found among the author’s papers. It is included as a companion to the poem this week by Kathleen Roxby.

REFRACTIONS—a poem by Robert Roxby

“DITCH DIGGER TO HOBO.” During the 1930’s the author dug ditches for the Civilian Conservation Corps, as well as performing other jobs. The knowledge and sight of hoboes was common during that time when there was little work for anyone and many became homeless, but as usual the author has chosen to spin this story in a positive way. The poem was found untitled in the author’s journal and the title added for this release in honor of March 9, National Get Over It Day.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“A GOOD CUP OF TEA A GOOD CUP OF TEA” is based on a family story as filtered through the author’s mind. Tea in the author’s childhood home was the panacea for many things. This pattern probably began in the Irish immigrant household of her great grandmother, the maid in the poem. This poem was written before the author had accurate geneological information. As a result, there are two possible errors. (1) Her grandmother was most likely born in County Sligo, not Mayo; the author prefers the sound of Mayo to Sligo for her poem. (2) The house where she worked could have been in West Virginia, though the wealth of that family came from Ohio according to the author’s grandmother. This version is the original and was not updated with the later geneology data.