It’s Friday which means it’s Poetry Friday, which is always exciting, but this particular Friday is extra exciting for me because it’s also the release day (book birthday!) of my latest book, Sage Cookson’s Sweet Escape. More on that in a bit.
First, though, a poem. When I walk around the lake close to my house there is a lovely grove of paperbark trees in a swampy bit at the back of the lake. I often stop and admire the trees, and feel like they are watching me back. Paperbark trees are amazing, in that their bark really is like paper – and it sheds like rough cut pages. When I was a kid, I used to collect pieces and write on them. Here’s a photo of one of the trees, which I took during a quick lunchtime walk this week – in between showers of rain, which made everything damp and shiny and heavenly-smelling.
I came home and had to write about that tree. Here’s what I came up with:
The Story Tree
Hello tree
I wish I could read
the stories
etched deep
in your sepia paper.
Are they tales
of what you’ve seen
what you’ve heard
what you’ve felt
since you first drafted yourself
here in the swamp?
Or are they fables
of what you’ve imagined
might lie in other tree-libraries
in far flung places?
(Poem copyright Sally Murphy, 2016)
It’s kind of apt that this week’s poem is about stories because, as I said, today I’m celebrating the release of my latest book, Sage Cookson’s Sweet Escape.
I just can’t enough of looking at the beautiful cover! This is the first in a series of adventures, where Sage travels around Australia – and even overseas – with her parents, who are television chefs. Wherever they go, something always goes wrong, and Sage is at the center of fixing it. In Sweet Escape, the family visits a chocolatier who, it turns out, isn’t very pleased to see them. So far the book has only been released in Australia, but it is available online here.
Have a great Friday. I know I’m going to. Today’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference.
The series looks amazing, and I could look at that cover, too. It’s charming and adorable. Well done, you!
Thank you Brenda 🙂
Congratulations, Sally! Sage looks like a “spicy” character! And wow, your paperbark tree photo looks so mystical. I love that your poem is talking directly to the tree. =)
Thank you Bridget 🙂
Congratulations on your book birthday, and thank you for the wonderful poem from the paper tree!
Thanks Mary 🙂
Sally, how exciting! Your paperbark tree seems to be growing IN the water! Is that normal? I love thinking of you writing on bark sheets as a girl, and I congratulate you on your new series. It reminds me that once I was working on a book called “Mrs. Peachbottom’s Cooking School”…off to find those drafts somewhere…
Thanks Heidi. Yes, this one is definitely in the water (though it’s a swamp and sometimes dries up). They don’t all live in the water though I think they do like to be close to it. Good luck with those drafts!
Woo-hoo, Sally – Congratulations! And, yes – great cover.
Love this poem and photo – that amazing tree does look like it could have “drafted itself.” Thanks for sharing all around, and happy new book month!
Thanks so much Robyn 🙂
Congratulations, Sally! Your book and the plans for more sound like so much fun.
We have a paperbark maple in our yard with bark that peels. And then there are arbutus trees that, I think, lose their bark instead of dropping their leaves in the fall. I’d love to see your paperbark trees, and what a perfect poem for them!
Thank you, Violet.
Congratulations, Sally! What an exciting time for you! I love the premise for your series and look forward to investigating it further. Your Story Tree poem is wonderful. I’m fascinated by the idea of a tree that sheds in pages and has stories to tell. I enjoyed the magnificent photo as well. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much, Molly.
Congrats, Sally! Your book looks delectable! I’m especially excited that it is kicking off a series. Also, it sounds like it would make a good tv show 🙂
Thanks Tabatha. A Tv show about a family who travel to make a Tv show – now there’s a thought!
Congratulations, Sally. How exciting, to be cooking up a series!! I look forward to sampling a taste, and sharing it with kids.
Thanks Kat! I’m having fun and can’t wait to see kids enjoying it, too.