Ligonier Sightings

This is a 112 page book of 84 haiku and eight longer poems created in a little over a year's time of sights, sounds, smells, and impressions specific to southwestern Pennsylvania but meaningful to readers who have never set foot in that region of the United States. The idea of Ligonier Sightings is to capture some of the intensity and vivacity with which children view their surroundings before the world becomes ordinary. The book begins with a death, Shrove Tuesday Bitter cold morning, creek frozen over my friend's ashes on that ridge. Old Forbes Road February 16 and ends with Pegasus stamping his hoof on the ridge top and sending a river of sunlight pouring into the valley: Pegasus Mid-February morning, cold, and sun pouring down from the ridge top. Settlers Road February 15 With few exceptions, each poem is a glimpse of nature in one of the seasons. But each contains as well some hint to the writer's involvement in the image, as in Found Objects Walked out this morning among the barns and farm smells and geese overhead. Peoples Road October 18 If the poem works, the image lodges in readers' minds and even alters how they look at and interact with their surroundings. The connection between the title and the poem must be supplied by the reader and the time taken to reflect on possibilities allows the reader to participate in the experience. Such consideration leads to a more imaginative reading. When that happens, the words are only the starting point. The dust jacket is a watercolor by Pittsburgh plein air artist Robert L. Bowden of the town center of Ligonier, established in 1727 and site of Fort Ligonier, an outpost during the French and Indian War. The book also contains 45 pen and ink drawings by artist and teacher Joy Fairbanks of Blairsville, Pennsylvania.