Poetry Accepted For Inclusion in an Anthology!

One of my poems (see below) has been chosen for inclusion in The Reach of Song 2010, a fine collection of poems by the Georgia Poetry Society.  I have been honored with an invitation to be recognized and to read the poem at Kennesaw State University!  I wrote the poem when my daughter left home for college, as I warred with the mixed feelings of sadness and joyfulness: sadness because I was going to miss her something awful; joyfulness because of her arrival at this gargantuan accomplishment. 

(Copies of The Reach of Song will be available for order in August of 2010.)

My Mind Must Remember

I don't even want
To wrestle with invisible time
To pause at your childhood junctions

 I don't even want
To stretch my mind to remember
The last time your skin drank the sun
I don't even want
To wring my mind for the drops
The tiny joyful moments
Your Tinkle-bell baby coos

My mind should remember
Every protective maternal clasp
Your growing arms embraced
Riddled with teenage melodrama
In your own leading-lady roles

We must make each parting
A full-course gourmet meal
Kicked up a notch with
Emeril's fanfare
Suffused with
Wolfgang's passion for freshness
Celebrated with
Jacques' many delicious delights
Dished out with
Marvin's southern down-homeness

My mind must remember
With clarity's exposed precision
Each regretfully joyous parting
My mind must remember

I cannot bear to forget

--Frances Ohanenye, Marietta, Georgia

"Paper Is Not Silent!" My dream has loved paper so much for so long because it gave influence to the parched voice of a fashionista poet. Finding this outlet, that voice is now replete with expressive sound.