Jayne Jaudon Ferrer is a poet who lives and works in Greenville, South Carolina. Happily married, she is the proud mother of three sons, has a vast array of friends who like herself are happy and besides all that she is a beautiful human being. She sent an e-mail to me somewhere in 2006 and we've kept in touch since then.
In Saginaw, Michigan, the River Junction Poets hosted an event in honor of her birthday on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at the Barnes & Noble bookseller on Tittabawassee Road. We read from two of her four books: A Mother of Sons and She of the Rib: Women Unwrapped. I was surprised when the copy I ordered arrived at Barnes & Noble for me to pick up: it was a signed copy! Besides writing poems of her own, Ms. Ferrer actively promotes the appreciation of poetry. You can read more about her and her activities at her website. Meanwhile, here is a poem of hers I like from She of the Rib:
Connoisseur
Though my life is rife with complexities,
my heart celebrates simple joys:
a forsythia's first fragile bloom,
the sun's rays splayed through a stand of pines,
Vivaldi and Merlot on a May afternoon,
sleeping babies - any species at all.
And you, my love,
with your no-frills approach to life -
your keep-it-simple,
cut-to-the-chase,
bottom-line-kind of mind.
You are exquisite vanilla
in my too-many flavored world.
The night we met at the bookstore to read Ms. Ferrer's poems, we signed a birthday card and sent it to her in South Carolina with a store flier which had in it an announcement about our event that night. She wrote back in a Hallmark card:
Wow! You folks know how to make a girl feel good! Thanks so much for celebrating my poetry on my big day. My son & his friend were on hand when I opened your card & the B&N flyer fell out. They want to know why I'm not rich if I'm so "famous!" Indeed. [here she has drawn a smiley face] Love your work - love your levity - keep it up! [signed] Jayne
Happy Birthday, Jayne, and many more! Let us know if you'll be in Michigan; we'll have a warm welcome for you.
If you don't have Poets Birthday Readings in your area, you can get some ideas as to how to get them started here in this blog.
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