Volume 62, Issue 1(winter2012) - National Federation of State ...

Page 2
The Sylvan
P r e s i d e n t ’ s M e s s a g e
For being the shortest month of the year, even at
its longest, February has a lot of heart. We get to celebrate
the birthdays of two great presidents, Washington
and Lincoln. On the personal side, I get to celebrate
one of my greatest creations outside of poetry,
the birthday of my daughter, Beth.
February also contains two dates that celebrate
love in all of its wondrous and complicated manifestations:
Valentine’s Day and Sadie Hawkins Day. For
me, and perhaps for some other men, each day is
preceded by days and weeks filled with dread and
fear. For Valentine’s Day our fervent hope to not falter
under the strain of finding the perfect gift that conveys
our love and devotion. For Sadie Hawkins Day
we hope to run just fast enough to stay out of reach
this time around but slow enough to make us appear
catch-able four years hence.
But contrary to popular belief, the most significant
holiday of February is not either of the aforementioned
days. For many reasons, I believe that that
honor belongs to Groundhogs Day. Punxsutawney Phil
is world famous for his unique and accurate winter
weather prognostications. He may not always get it
right but he puts on quite a show.
I’ve often wondered what Phil does in his den
when he is not working. He and I both spend a lot of
time in small, dark, confined spaces. I fritter away my
time lost in the fog of poetry writing, totally oblivious
to the world around me. With a secluded place to
work, and so much time on his paws, I’ve come to the
conclusion that Phil must also be writing poetry. Realizing
this, I checked our roster of poets and was surprised
to see that he is not a member. Remind me to
send him the membership information later this year.
On a similar thought, I sent a letter to Taylor Swift
last year making her aware of our organization and
inviting her to join. Taylor is a former resident of
Reading and has created several memorable and
popular songs. The lyrics of her songs are based on
her own life experiences and are powerfully poetic. I
was disappointed that she missed our deadline for
joining last year but I’ll try again this year.
Not being members of PPS currently, Taylor and
Phil don’t get to grow as poets through exposure to
the poetic fertilizer of others. Wouldn’t it be nice if
Taylor and Phil, both being celebrities with poetic
souls, could collaborate in their poetry writing. The
next logical step for them would be PPS membership!
Sweet!
I want to leap forward to April 21st. On that date,
Carlisle Poets will host PPS’ 2012 Spring Conference
at the Allenberry Resort Inn and Playhouse. The
highlights of the Spring Conference are the two workshops
and the presentation of awards and reading of
prize poems. Sandwiched in-between the awards
and readings in the morning and the two afternoon
workshops is an excellent and bountiful lunch buffet.
All of this is in addition to the camaraderie of fellow
poets.
Allenberry is a prime location that could only have
been created by someone with a poet’s heart and
soul. Allenberry has long been a favorite location for
PPS to hold their poetry conferences. For anyone
who has attended a past conference there, there are
many fond memories to bring you back. For others,
you’ll never know how much you’ve missed until you
attend a conference at Allenberry.
Y’all come now, ya hear.
“There is no frigate like a book to take us lands
away,
nor any coursers like a page of prancing poetry.”
-- Emily Dickinson
Richard “Dick” Lake, President
Pennsylvania Poetry Society