Alabama Album: Collected Poems - Tapa blanda

"Her poetry is deeply moving and evocative. She writes of daily life, of everyday happenings . . . There is a connection here that only gardeners know, lovers of plants and the earth." -Reese Kilgo, Ph.D, University of Alabama, Huntsville "I pasted a copy of her poem"Reunion" in the front of my old 1939 Huntingdon yearbook. I still get teary-eyed when I read it. What a splendid choice for Poet Laureate the powers that be made!" -Kathryn Tucker Windham "In a world where so many are 'writing poetry, ' she is, indeed, one of our real poets." -Bettye K. Wray, poet and editor of PN Magazine "Her 'Firebuilder' beats Robert Frost's 'The Wood Pile' hands down, and in the 14 lines of 'Beauty Shop' she covered everything it took Steel Magnolias two hours to say . . . a splendid collection." -Tom Fitzpatrick Jr. "Helen Blackshear is a tolerant person, a person of mirth and depth . . . Her poetry is her autobiography, and she leaves a legacy to our culture." -Ann Moon Rabb, Alabama Writers' Conclave "Her section as Poet Laureate is a deserved honor for one of Alabama's finest writers, as well as one of our finest promoters for the use of poetry." -Virginia Farnell, Alabama Writers' Conclave

Helen Blackshear’s poems are about the simple things we all share -- a love of family, childhood memories, enjoyment of trees and gardens, the pleasures of friendship, and the dark days of loneliness and loss. She said the poems in this collection were her autobiography, written over a period of sixty years of a fully lived life. Some of her poems inspire laughter, while others reflect the grief she both witnessed and felt. Her love of history resonates in poems about the Creek Indians, the Civil War, and conflicts in the modern world. From the myriad of experiences that inspired them, her poems touch the hearts of readers of all ages.