Three New Books by Carol Purington

The family of Carol Purington is very happy to announce three new books by Carol. As many of you know, Carol passed away on December 8, 2020, with family by her side in the room where she lived on Woodslawn Farm in Colrain, Massachusetts. 

Carol had several projects near completion and in late November 2020 she asked her family to finish and share her unpublished books. Carol had completed the writing and order of poetry and covers had been designed. Her family completed the formatting and proofreading and added photographs. We think Carol would be pleased with these books.

As a tribute to Carol, we present:

Emerald Flash - A collection of tanka - 129 poems in 15 sequences. Paperback, 91 pages, black & white illustration, 5 1/2” x 8 1/2”.

A Drift of Birdsong - A collection of 394 haiku with a beautiful cover designed by Frances Kidder. Carol worked on this book for many years as a collection of haiku to be illustrated by black and white photographs of birds. As she selected poems and pictures, the direction of the book changed and became Farm Song, which Carol released in mid-2020. Several of Carol's friends suggested that the original Birdsong should be completed as a collection of haiku without the family emphasis. Family photos were removed, the order of some haiku changed to better reflect the seasons, and color photographs of birds were added. Paperback, 171 pages, color photographs, 5 1/2” x 8 1/2”.

In His Presence - a collection of 27 of Carol’s poems - Psalms, Hymns, Christmas Carols, and Spiritual Songs. Paperback, 41 pages, no illustrations or photographs, 5 1/2” x 8 1/2”.

If you are interested in ordering any of the books, see information below.

Prices include shipping/postage costs.
Emerald Flash - $16
A Drift of Birdsong - $16
In His Presence - $8
Farm Song - $28

Contact
Nancy Purington
nanpur33@gmail.com

Checks payable to
Nancy Purington
PO Box 2233
Palm City, FL 34991

Farm Song: haiku by Carol Purington

Carol Purington’s new book, Farm Song, featuring more than 400 of her haiku and over 600 farm and family photographs will be available soon. Contact Nancy Purington for ordering information.
nanpur33@gmail.com

Announcement of Carol’s new book on the front page of the Pur(r)in(g)ton Family Newsletter, Spring 2020.

Mother’s Day Haiku and Tanka

A swirl of high clouds
between the retreating sun
and the frosted earth
My mother folds away the old quilts
that did not save her asters

 Fire in the woodstove
The monarch butterfly waits for the sun
to warm its wings

 Swallows have swept
this summer's sky for the final time,
have left for their other lives
in another world
and I remember you

The clothesline
light with cobwebs
a cricket's gleam

Four generations

This hepatica
whose freshness lasts for an hour . . .
if left in the woods I wouldn't have seen it,
wouldn't have seen it wilt

Twilight…
missing the bats
that always flew from barn to pond

Under bare maples
and around a sharp corner
to the field where the one-room schoolhouse
     stands – only in my mother’s words

Blue flowers
from the woods
she remembers May baskets

Spring Beauty

Wishing
the blossoms of spring
to swell slowly
      . . . as if time can give
     what eternity promises

Quiet bedroom
somehow the presence
of her absence

     c.p.

 Carol’s Mother’s Day Wish

While raising 10 other children,

three of them born after I came home,

She accomplished Himalayas of laundry, Rocky Mountains of cooking,

and Fruitful Plains of flowery gardens

In the midst of all this activity

She did everything I needed and almost everything I wanted

Because she fed, bathed, and made wrinkle-free beds,

I spent more than 50 years in bed without a pressure sore,

no case of pneumonia, not even a single night in a hospital

I was a reader and she found perfect books

at the library and on the bookmobile

I was a writer and she scribbled my confusing corrections

in crowded margins

I was a poet and she brought me stories

of outdoor experiences

that I could turn into haiku and tanka

I was a bookmaker and she helped me design covers

measure and cut and tape, choose fonts and evaluate colors

She packaged and mailed hundreds of books

She participated in every aspect of my life,

Always with interest and engagement

She was at least half my memory

Now she relaxes on her sunny porch

Great-grandchildren and hummingbirds

swirl by

Happy Mother’s Day

To my amazing

And very dear mother

You gave life to me twice –

once on November 16, 1949

and again day by day starting in the 1950s

With love,

Carol

Coming soon . . .the new book of haiku by Carol, illustrated with many photos of the family and farm.

Mann Library features Carol Purington haiku in September

Cornell University's Mann Library hosts a Daily Haiku Page, highlighting the work of a different poet each month. Carol Purington (author bio) is the guest author in September 2016. Please check in every day to enjoy her poetry, or use the link on the page to subscribe to their daily RSS Feed. Link to September 1, 2016 poem.

Carol's work was also featured on this site nine years ago. Visit the Mann Library Daily Haiku Archives and click through the 31 days of July 2007:   http://haiku.mannlib.cornell.edu/2007/07/page/31/

Gallery of Cover Art

A Gallery of Cover Art, including Carol Purington's Family Farm, has been published on The Haiku Foundation website. Please enjoy these twelve beautiful covers of haiku books.

https://thehaikufoundation.org/gallery-of-cover-art/