April's Child

Janie was the third child
But no surprise,
Except that she was born
On April Fool's
With two front teeth.

Her Irish parents,
Who love music,
Spotted talent in
Their daughters
And nourished it.

They bought a used piano and,
At a sacrifice,
Made sure Janie, Alice and Mabel took
Lessons in piano, singing,
And the violin.

Aprils' child played once
With a symphony orchestra.
But her mother didn't agree
To let her pursue
What she called, "An unladylike career."

Janie still sang in church
And played the organ there.
She also played the piano
For her own pleasure
And that of her family.

When the strings of her violin
Became broken,
Oddly enough, they were never replaced.
And her children
Never heard her play that violin.

But they did hear April's child brag
Shortly before she died:
"I still have all my teeth, even the ones
That replaced the two
That I was born with."

Mary S. Palmer
4/1/12

Acceptance

Booksbyauthors - New Orleans by New Orleans - just notified me that my story THE BIG CITY has been accepted for publication. These stories about New Orleans will be published in a book with a launch in late April 2012.

I'm honored and thrilled to be included in this selection by "an independent panel of New Orleans-based authors, publishers, community leaders and journalists."

Blurb from TIME WILL TELL - page 77

Tim O’Hara had been out on the town. Upon reaching the front steps of the wooden porch, he could not remember if there were three or four. As he gingerly put his left foot on the bottom step, he began counting them aloud.

“One, two, free, izzit four, fourah? Sh-hh, can’t wake Mabel. Mabel’ll kill me. Woo—ooe, is she gonna’ be mad.” He scratched the stubble on his chin and with effort raised his two hundred pound bulk over the last step. The pitcher of beer he drank had reached his brain. His vision was blurred and double. Stumbling and falling forward against the front door, he knew the damage was done. Mabel was sure to awaken now.

Success

About writing, or anything else: You can if you think you can; if you think you can't, you're still right.

TIME WILL TELL - BOOK RELEASED 3/9/12

Sci-Fi, Oh, My!

It's out; my book's out,
And I'm ready to shout.

I need readers now,
But I must find out how.

So promote I will
To keep my big thrill.

And perhaps they'll take note,
If they like what I wrote.

Hope this turns out swell;
Only TIME WILL TELL.

Mary S. Palmer
3/9/12

St. Patrick's Day

The Wearin' of the Green

St. Patrick was a former slave,
But, no, he never was a knave.
A thousand years we've celebrated
This very famous, now belated.

In many countries parades abound
With celebrations all around.
They line the streets and wear the green;
The Irish in them's clearly seen.

A little praying's also done,
The walking's just part of the fun.
Corned beef and cabbage is the fare
At dinner time when all reach there.

And many a mug or two is lifted
To honor Patrick as the gifted,
The one who drove away the snakes,
Those pagans Irish felt were fakes,
And saved the Irish from their fate
On that a long, long ago date.

But by the time the day is done,
And revelers have had so much fun,
Perhaps they've lost their memory of
The Patrick that they pledged to love.

Mary S. Palmer
March 5, 2012

New Book

My science-fiction novel, TIME WILL TELL, will be released as an ebook on Friday, March 9, 2012. Please see my web page at maryspalmer.com for more details and a photo of the cover.

It's available at Musa Publishing and Amazon.com.

Thanks for your interest in my work.

Please see my web page at maryspalmer.com or maryspalmer.org