Happy Birthday, Maine! + #WritingChallenge
Celebrating #Maine’s Bicentennial through Poetry
Maine officially celebrates its 200th Birthday on March 15, 2020! Find out more about “The Pine Tree State” and help us celebrate all year long with a haiku of your own. #WritingChallenge
Did you know?
Maine (nicknamed The Pine Tree State) remained a province of the Massachusetts Bay Colony when America declared its independence from Britain on July 4, 1776. At that time Maine was not one of America’s original thirteen colonies because it had never been granted a royal charter from Great Britain . It would be decades after the American Revolution and the signing of The Declaration of Independence (summarizing the colonists’ motivation for seeking independence) before Maine gained official statehood.
The Eastern white pine tree helped fuel the region’s economy in an era when shipbuilding and lumbering reigned supreme. The value of those pines actually provided a spark for the American Revolution. Massachusetts didn’t want to lose any of those pine profits it gained after the war, while Mainers struggled for political and economic independence. Maine officially celebrates its Bicentennial on March 15, 2020.
“A nature-filled land that enlivens the senses and soothes the soul—to me, Maine is poetry.”
–Bette A. Stevens
The Power of Poetry
How Readers & Writers of All Ages Benefit from Poetry
- Improves Verbal Skills & Memory
- Enhances Cognitive Function
- Develops Empathy & Insight
- Encourages Creativity
Why Haiku…
Inspired by the beauty and bounty of my home state, I write poetry in many forms; but I chose haiku for My Maine to offer readers a collection of story poems and photo snapshots of the unique land I know and love.
I invite you to join me as I celebrate #Maine2020 by submitting one of your favorite photos taken in “The Pine Tree State” and writing a haiku too! I’ll be publishing submissions here on my blog throughout 2020. Simply email me at bettestevens@tds.net SUBJECT: “Maine Bicentennial Haiku.”
How to Write Haiku…
A Peek Inside the Collection
~Excerpts from “Spring Awakenings”~
March shakes the remnants
Of sleep from wintery boughs
White confetti swirls
Granite boulders rise
Above the winter mantle
Midway the meltdown
Dark mask shrouds the land
Soaking downpour foreshadows
Season’s renewal
Rivers spill over
While ice jams—slowly melting
Weep upon their beds
Pot holes irk drivers
As roadways turn to washboards
Kids giggle in back
Hills and vales exult
Rivers and streams sing arias
Mud season arrives
Verdant shimmering
Emerald fields bursting forth
Souls rise from slumber
Sunbeams composing
Springtime melodies, humming
Tapping to the tunes
About the Author
Inspired by nature and human nature, author Bette A. Stevens is a retired elementary and middle school teacher, a wife, mother of two and grandmother of eight. Stevens lives in central Maine with her husband on their 37-acre farmstead where she enjoys reading, writing, gardening, walking and reveling in the beauty of nature. She advocates for children and families, for childhood literacy and for the conservation of monarch butterflies (milkweed is the only plant that monarch caterpillars will eat). Stevens has written articles for ECHOES, The Northern Maine Journal of Rural Culture. As of July 2019, Stevens has self-published five books and has a second poetry collection on the drawing board. Find out more about the author and her books at https://www.amazon.com/author/betteastevens
Contact the author at DBS Publishing to order author-signed copies of her books or to schedule a Poetry Event tailored to meet the needs and interests of your school, community group, company or organization, or simply to find out more.
Thanks so much for stopping by today. I look forward to hearing from you. (Comment Section Below)
“Happy reading & writing poetry!”
“A nature-filled land that enlivens the senses and soothes the soul
Stevens has released a poetry and photography collection inspired by Maine’s diverse landscape, natural beauty, rural communities, and independent people. The author’s 150 haiku poems, along with her photographs, reflect the Maine she knows and loves. My Maine, Haiku through the Seasons takes readers on a poetic journey through the state’s four distinct seasons. In addition to its poems and photographs, My Maine includes state symbols and interesting facts about The Pine Tree State.
Written
on 03/05/2020