Barbara Robinette has read and written poetry since she heard "O, Captain My Captain" recited while watching President Kennedy's funeral procession on television. She happily earned her living, first as a bank secretary, then later, as a secretary at a university. Though she was busy working and raising children, the love of poetry always simmered on the back burner. Now in retirement she has the time to read and write poetry. Recently, she has begun studying the art of haiku/senryu.
Barbara writes her poems for the everyday, working person. They are in free verse style, with every word holding value and point, as she describes feelings and observations with the special touch of an artist. Several of her poems have appeared in The Penwood Review, Cave Region Review, Eureka Literary Magazine, California Quarterly and others. She has published two previous books of poetry.
In this book, Barbara's watercolor paintings are interspersed throughout her poetry. Each painting and each poem can stand alone, as they evoke sensations, memories, and meaning through color, sound, and movement. Together, they provide a comprehensive look at life, death, growth, love, wonderment, playfulness, happiness, poverty, sisterhood, and more, including the meaning of feet-through the eyes of an elderly cat. These are interesting poems and paintings at first look, embodying varying levels of affirmation to the reader, and all with a subtle call to draw the reader in to further contemplation of the deeper experiences of life.
Barbara Robinette lives with her woodsman husband Paul, a playful dog, and one sleepy cat on an acreage of woods in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains.
