by Jo Taylor
—After Mark Nepo
Fear wastes air, the poet said, and he knew. His leukemia-ridden body knew. But what do you do with it? Hide it under a bushel? Snuff it out like you would a candle’s wick? Pound it flat like a thin-tossed pizza dough? Maybe you drown it with sorrow or with a good stiff drink or with total immersion in work. Perhaps, just perhaps— the answer lies in love.
Jo Taylor is a retired, 35-year English teacher from Georgia. Her favorite genre to teach high school students was poetry, and today she dedicates more time to writing it, her major themes focused on family, place, and faith. She says she writes to give testimony to the past and to her heritage. In 2021 she published her first collection of poems, Strange Fire. She enjoys walking in early morning, playing with her two grandsons, and collecting and reading cookbooks.
These poems are beautiful, Mrs Jo. I am praying for you all daily. Lots of love.
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Hey Jo. I remember you from school, friends with you sister. I am aware of your journey and my heart shares with your sorrow. My faith is with yours a hope for a sweeter tomorrow without a burden we cannot put to an end. Only God can overcome for us that which we dream to be without. May you heart and mind be strong and you prosper mentally, emotionally, physically, financially and faithfully.
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