Jennifer Horne grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and has lived in Alabama since 1986. The author of a book of poems, Bottle Tree (WordTech Publications, 2010), and a poetry chapbook, Miss Betty’s School of Dance (bluestocking press, 1997), she is also the editor of Working the Dirt: An Anthology of Southern Poets (NewSouth Books, 2003) and co-editor, with Wendy Reed, of All Out of Faith: Southern Women on Spirituality (University of Alabama Press, 2006). She has worked as a teacher in elementary, high school, college, international, and prison classrooms, and as a journal, magazine, and book editor, and has received fellowships from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the Seaside Institute. She holds a BA in the Humanities from Hendrix College, and an MA in English, an MFA in Creative Writing, and an MA in Community Counseling, all from the University of Alabama. She is married to Don Noble, a writer, editor, and literary interviewer.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

History Lesson



Another good find, this time at Anne’s Tiques in Tuscaloosa, was a postcard with kittens on the front and the reverse stamped with a half-penny stamp and addressed to “Miss Willy, Holly Lodge, Victoria R?, Great Malvern.” It was postmarked May 23, 1910, from a town in Dorset. Victoria Road it was, and presumably the card was delivered safely, but who knows how it made its way to Tuscaloosa from Great Malvern.

The postcard is dated “23 – V- 10” and reads:

“I have sent you Saturday’s Daily Graphic
with some pictures of the King’s funeral. I like
the photo where the dog is following in the
procession. ............... It has been very hot here
the last day or two—quite a blazing sun—but
there is more breeze today. I expect it is very
hot in Malvern.
With love from J.”

I like the way the note makes a kind of a found poem as well as the respectful space to indicate a new paragraph as the writer shifts from news about the funeral to news of the weather.

The funeral in question was that King Edward VII (grandfather of King George VI, featured in the movie The King’s Speech). The funeral had occurred May 20. Pictures (but not the one of the dog!) can be found at The Royal Windsor Web Site
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1 comment:

  1. I miss those days when you could write an address on your envelope that you weren't completely sure about and still be pretty sure it would arrive safely!

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