poetry – Cindy Hval

I wrote poetry all through high school and college. It was the way I processed life and relationships.

As a busy wife and mother, poetry slipped through my fingers, replaced with calendar squares, newsletters and permission slips.

It eluded me when I launched into journalism, becoming buried beneath deadlines, column inches, nonfiction anthologies and a book of World War II love stories.

My house emptied and life quieted a bit.

That’s when poetry found me again. It felt like reconnecting with an old friend.

I’m so delighted to have two poems included in this new anthology “Down River, Deep Root,” published by Carbonation Press.

This is an anthology of poetry featuring many voices and persepctives about Spokane, Washington, or by poets who have lived in Spokane. The themes of this book include home, roots, and liminality.

Here’s a link.

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Spent a delightful evening at Barnes & Noble last night. I was joined by fabulous poet Zan Agzigian and amazing blues/jazz songstress Heather Villa for an evening of poetry, prose and song.

The reading was held in the children’s area of the store because that’s where they have the stage, so it was fun to read from Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood!

In addition to reading from War Bonds, I shared a portion of my work-in-progress, and the reception was warm and enthusiastic. A much-needed boost in the slow-going labor of writing my next book.

Even more fun was having my youngest son, 16-year-old Sam, in the audience.
“I love to hear you read,” he said. And he snapped the above photo.

At the signing afterward, a woman approached and asked me to sign a copy of War Bonds .

“It’s not my copy,” she explained. “It’s my 17-year-old daughter’s. She’s already read it several times and she often reads the stories aloud to me. She wants she and her fiance to be like the couples in your book, growing old together.”

How cool is that? A teenager who values the stories of the Greatest Generation! Nothing, makes me happier or more hopeful then know these stories are appreciated by the next generation.