Author’s Notes

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“DISTANCE RUN” was first published in 1973. Interspersed in this poem are childhood toys and games. The poem was inspired by a workshop held by a local chapter of the California Federation of Chapparal Poets. The “cry Barbaree” game was one the author did not really know but imagined from hearing the call sounded in the night and the running of feet, perhaps laughter, long after she had to be indoors. This was before child labor laws, so the players may have had no daytime hours for play. Margaret was sure they were all boys and the game rather like the current game of parkour with the children running and leaping across rooftops. Being a tomboy, she dreamed of joining in the game when she was older, but she never found anyone who would tell her about the game. It is also highly probable these runners were actually involved in bootlegging and “barbaree” a code word.

REFRACTIONS—a poem by Robert Roxby

“AUGUST” first appeared in the author’s anthology Reflections on a Lifetime, 2000.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“HIGH NOON” first appeared in the chapbook Chameleon Woman, 2000. The author was thinking about a black and white picture which showed her playing in her backyard. She remembered dancing there in the sunshine while playing alone when she had no playmate.