I know this might seem like a small thing to most people, but I am SO excited!!

[Lyric]

A poem of mine was chosen as a "Daily Deviation" at deviantART.com about a week ago. I had no idea that it happened until I checked the e-mail associated with my deviartART account and found an inbox full of letters from people who say they're my fans, asking when I'll be posting something new, if I have anything published that they can buy, etc. One of them mentioned that my poem had won a Daily Deviation honor, so I logged in and checked and found hundreds of messages, comments, and people adding me to their "Watch" list and favorites. I am literally shaking with shock.

Being chosen as a Daily Deviation is a HUGE honor there. There are thousands of pieces of art submitted there every day, and being chosen as one of the "best of the best" is unbelievable--especially for a poet, because 99.9% of Daily Deviation winners are visual art of some form. It's incredibly rare for a poem to be chosen.

I just wanted to share the excitement. I feel like I'm about to burst with it, because I'm here all alone! *does handsprings through the house*

The poem that won is posted below, along with a link to the deviantART page where it can be found.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/45711440/

A Carpenter's Daughter

This memory song is late in coming.
The joiner was broken before his work
was complete; the hammer is silent now.
The saw and the rule are dusty with age,
his workbench torn out two summers past, but
I still remember the smell of pinesap and resin
and roofing tar. I am a carpenter’s daughter.

My father created cavalries of wood,
sawhorses to hold steady the workday load.
These rigid chargers of lumber, emblazoned
with chalk dust, like fierce warpainted steeds.
His children rode reckless like savages on
mounts of sticky white pine, hammersong
like hooves striking flint, ringing out around.

Across the horizon of my distant youth,
I was enthralled with my father’s level.
The forging of alignment, the truth of it,
a tool that quarters no compromise.
A carpenter trims the world and makes it
flush and planed and square, but now
the bubble is no longer between the lines.

He told me not to weep for the mighty trees
who cleaved for the axe with honor and grace;
their sacrifice sheltered softer, weaker things.
Our homes are gravestones of oak, pine and beech.
Our lives stand, their epitaphs and legacies.
The forest bore the weight of his loss, in the end
I wonder if the trees wept for him?

A grand artisan without a legend, his softwood
hands skillfully held and shaped my childhood.
He never walked with disciples, but I swear
he turned a loaf and a fish into a feast
so many times. No more than a man,
no less than a father, he lived and died
with callous-streaked fingers full of wood.

[WannaBeGrumpy]

1. Congrats!!!

you've got some serious talent! :hi: :toast: :party:

[Lyric]

4. I'm just overflowing with excitement and shock right now!!

Thank you so much for the compliment! :hug: :hug: :hug:

[WannaBeGrumpy]

5. No prob.. it's a very exciting thing...

you deserve it! :hug:

[Guava Jelly]

2. As sort of a carpenter by trade

I love it!!
and congrats!
You are quite the poet

[Lyric]

3. Thank you!!

:bounce: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :hug: :hug: :hug: :pals:

[Guava Jelly]

8. you are welcome!

And it isn't a small thing ;)
It's a big thing.
Be proud!

[jeff30997]

6. "I know this might seem like a small thing to most people"

Yeah,my last girlfriend told me that often!

[Lyric]

9. I get an awful lot of e-mails claiming they can fix that problem.

Shall I forward them your way? ;) :rofl:

[jeff30997]

11. Hehehe!

[Gormy Cuss]

7. That's not a little thing- that's great!

People are reading and appreciating your art.
:applause:

[GenDem]

10. That is fabulous!

It shows a love for a father that can't be measured. I have to honestly say...I have never enjoyed reading a poem more. My grandfather, who I loved more than life, was a carpenter.

Congratulations -- you deserved this honor! :applause:

[Lyric]

12. *blushing profusely* Thank you!

I just wish my Dad was still here. He'd have loved this, especially the attention it brought to the work he spent his life on. One of the e-mails I got was from the foreman of a Carpenter's union in Pennsylvania, who wanted to know if he could print it out and hang it in the union breakroom.

Of course I told him yes. It breaks my heart that my father, *the* Carpenter in my life, never got to read it. But knowing that his fellow Carpenters will read it and know how important and significant their work is to their children helps a lot with the grief.

[trof]

13. I ain't much on pomes, but that's terrific.

My father-in-law was a carpenter.
You describe him to a T (square).
;-)

[Lyric]

15. As my Daddy would always say...

...if it ain't broke, someone will hire me to fix it anyway. :rofl:

I miss that man. Every day of my life, I wish I'd have had the chance to tell him how much he meant to me. This poem isn't much, but it's the least I can do to honor him now.

[BarenakedLady]

14. Congratulations!!!

That is awesome.

:yourock:

[Lyric]

17. Coming from someone as talented as you

that is high praise indeed. :hug:

[BarenakedLady]

32. Are you sure you aren't confusing me with someone else?

talented? :shrug:

[Lyric]

33. I was thinking of that sketch you drew of your children

It was absolutely beautiful :loveya:

[BarenakedLady]

34. Oh thank you....

:blush:

[idgiehkt]

16. Wow

I was badly in need of a beautiful poem today. You are very, very talented. I love this part:

He told me not to weep for the mighty trees
who cleaved for the axe with honor and grace;
their sacrifice sheltered softer, weaker things.

Thanks, it was an honor to read that.

Congrats to you

:toast:

[Lyric]

27. He really said that to me.

I was a very sensitive child, and when I was about 6, I came to him crying because I was afraid that the trees could "feel" it when they were being cut down.

He reassured me that the trees couldn't feel it, and in fact that they were giving their lives to us, because we were soft and weak while they were strong and tough. I've never forgotten it. :hug:

[graywarrior]

18. That is just beautiful, oktoberain

Congratulations.

[Lyric]

19. Thank you.

:hug:

[TOhioLiberal]

20. Excellent!

How cool is that! Congrats on being chosen as the beast of the best. Stand tall and proud, because you have a talent! I hope to read more of your work one day!

[Lyric]

26. You will, once I write it!

I've lost most of what I've written over the years, due to my own idiocy at not backing-up the "My Documents" file. But I plan on writing a lot more! :)

[Tsiyu]

21. Wow

that is one of the best poems I've read in a long, long time.

And I am picky.

That website obviously knows talent. Congrats and kudos for those wonderful words!

:applause:

[Lyric]

24. Thank you!

Your compliments mean a lot. :hug:

[Haole Girl]

22. Your poem is so beautifully written...

...I cried, of course.

Congratulations on your recognition...you deserve it!

[Lyric]

25. Did you know someone who was a carpenter too?

I've gotten a lot of mail from people who had a father, an uncle, or a grandfather who was a carpenter. Those are the ones who seem to be the most emotionally-affected. :hug:

[Haole Girl]

36. Yes

:hug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. That's a beautiful poem...

Congrats!

[Lyric]

28. Thank you!

I'm having a drink to celebrate! (like I need an excuse :rofl:)

[LynzM]

29. Famtastic, dude!! Congrats!

That's so neat, and awesome, and it must feel fantastic to find out that you have fans!!

[Maestro]

30. Congratulations!

You are a published poet! And that is simply a gorgeous poem. Those at Deviant Art were correct in selecting it!

[bigwillq]

31. WOO HOO!

Congrats! :bounce: :toast:

[Nicole]

35. Congrats!

I really like that. :toast: