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.

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“MELPOMENE’S SINGING PLACE” is appropriate for this week’s Music Therapy Day, March 1. Melpomene was always the Greek muse of song. After the rise of Greek theater, she also became associated with tragedy. The poem reflects the author’s fondness for the stories of Greek and Roman mythology. Found among the author’s papers, this verse (newly edited for this release) was possibly written while the author was a teenager mourning the loss of her father.

KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby

“NOT PROS AND CONS, JUST CON CONFUSION” is another in the author’s essays on the idioscyncasies of the English language. The essay is included this week for National Grammar Day, March 1.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“A LITTLE TRANSCENDING MELODY” describes one way the author coped with aspects of her depression as a teenager. It is included this week for March 1, World Music Therapy Day.

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“OFTEN NOW” is a pantoum written in 1991 in response to poetry meeting suggesting the form included this week for Valentine’s Day. She wrote to her Round Robin poetry friends, “I seldom write a poem ‘on demand,’ so to speak, but thought this would be intriguing. I wanted to something light and with short line to represent the tom-tom…but, it’s not my thing. So, this is what I came up with. Not light, not short lines…just something. I think line 14 should perhaps rhyme with the last line, but it doesn’t. That’s not all wrong with this effort.”

REFRACTIONS—the poetry of Robert Roxby

“NO NEED OF VALENTINES” is included this week for Valentine’s Day. The valentine described is unknown. It might be a remembered early sweetheart, his daughter or simply a product of the author’s imagination. The poem first appeared in the author’s collection, Reflections of a Lifetime.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“GEOLOGIC SWING, A JAZZ LOVE SONG,” is included this week for Valentine’s Day. Geology is the author’s favorite science. She was fascinated by rocks from a very early age when her father unearthed a fossil rock in their backyard. She later saw another almost exactly the same in a museum listing the age of the specimen. She was stunned to realize her childhood find ranked in age with dinosaurs and older creatures. Her treasure was lost when her rock garden was dismantled after a black widow spider made its home there.

GLASS RAIN – a poem by Margaret Roxby

“SUNLIGHT ON THE CAMPUS is included this week for February 1, National Freedom Day. This poem was inspired when the author received a letter from her friend, Elena (then a new older student at Berkeley University), describing her delight at being at the university. The poem was first published in 1976 in Poetry Forum.

KALEIDOSCOPE—by Kathleen Roxby

“ARTICLES AND PRONUNCIATION WILLFULNESS” is another in the author’s series on the oddities of the English language.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—a poem by Kathleen Roxby

“MARGINS” is included this week for National Freedom Day, February 1. While still in school the poet began noticing comments/drawings which appeared in the margins of her fellow students’ tablets and also in the margins of used books. This led her to think beyond that image to the wider interpretation of what a margin is. The thought expressed in this poem was often the subject of conversations in her family home.

GLASS RAIN – a poem by Margaret Roxby

“CAME A SPIDER” was first published in Quartet in 1968. It is included this week for January 17, National Bootleggers’ Day (or the day prohibition began). The poem was written when her brother’s alcoholism was impacting his children’s lives, but also reflects the author’s own experience with an alcoholic father. The author used the nursery rhyme, “Little Miss Muffet,” to great effect.

REFRACTIONS—by Robert Roxby

“LOVE” is included this week for January 21, National Hugging Day. In his poetry journal, the author wrote this about the poem, “Fun thing for “poetry club.” The poem first appeared in his collection, Reflections on a Lifetime. Note: the author had no grandchildren, just grand nieces and nephews.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—a poem by Kathleen Roxby

“PANIC IN THE BLACK QUARTER” first appeared in 2001 in the author’s chapbook, Tangent/Allusion. It is included this week for January 16, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Civil Rights Day. The poem was inspired by several films and documentaries the author saw about the White violence that came into the segregated areas where the Blacks lived both in the US and in South Africa during the Apartheid.

#National Bootleggers’ Day

#Martin Luther King Jr. Day

#Civil Rights Day

#National Hugging Day