This poem is from Foreverness: The Collected Poems of Jean Barlow Hudson, Edited by Rex A. Hudson (Yellow Springs, OH: Fallen Timbers Press, 1993).
An excerpt from the book jacket:
"World traveler, novelist, and poet, Jean Barlow Hudson crafted 130 memorable poems from 1935-1992, on childhood, war, the arms race, love, friendship, foreign places, the seasons, and the 'foreverness of time.
This volume of
poetry collects her beautiful lyrics
for the first time. They chronicle the life and poetic vision of
an original American women, who was devoted not only to seeking self-knowledge
and the meaning of life, but also to social justice, women's rights, community
development, and world peace.
Jean Barlow Hudson was a resident of Yellow Springs,
Ohio, and its first woman mayor, until her death in 1992. Her 'poetry
of living' provides insights that are proverbial, profound, and poetic.
Jean Barlow Hudson was born on
August 21, 1915, in Sugargrove, Pennsylvania, and died on August 22, 1992,
in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware,
Ohio, graduating with a B.A. degree in literature in 1939, and worked
as a copy editor, at the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 1939-40.
She met Benjamin R. Hudson in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and they were married
in 1940. They then lived in San Diego, California; Golden, Colorado;
and Casper, Wyoming.
While living in Casper, she gave birth to three
sons: Jon, Rex, and Chris. Her husband's profession as a hydrogeologist
took the family to Saudi Arabia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Taiwan, Jordan, and
West Pakistan. She returned to Yellow Springs in 1965, and gave birth,
at the age of fifty, to a daughter, Holly. Jean, Ben, and Holly
then lived in Senegal, the Philippines, Spain, Oman, Tunisia, and Somalia.
Jean's novel Rivers of Time, set in West Africa, was published by
Avon Books in 1979.
Jean Served as the first woman mayor of Yellow Springs
from 1987-1991. An active feminist, she played a key role in establishing
a regional branch of the Women's World Banking group, serving as its president.
She was a recipient of the Greene County Woman of the Year Award in 1992."
Copyright 1993 by Benjamin R. Hudson
Copies of the book are available from Chris Hudson
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