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Prairie Roots
by James Lowell Hall
60 Poems ~ 17 B/W Illustrations ~ Dramatis Personae ~ 133 pages
Price: $18.95 ~ Perfect Bound ~ Softcover
Publisher: Shanti Arts Publishing
ISBN #: 978-1-962082-12-9
To Order: Amazon.com
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Prairie Roots is the story of a town, a home, a family, and a legacy. Told with poetic charm and treasured photographs, the story begins in 1915 in the town of Delavan, Illinois, with the marriage of Ray and Marguerite Lillibridge, the author's grandparents. From that time forward, joys and trials were lived and shared, and then told and retold, becoming memories that form the foundation of a family rooted in the prairie soil of the Midwest. Take time to appreciate the history, dignity, and love within this small-town family. Allow the book's tenderness to reach deep into your own memories, unearthing your own stories and your foundation.
ADVANCE PRAISE:
Thank you so much, Dr. Hall. I want to tell you how much I like your poem “To a Father Dying Young.” I really like it, and I’m not just being polite.
–Angela Jackson, Illinois Poet Laurette, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nominee, winner of Poetry Foundation’s 2022 Ruth Lilly Lifetime Achievement Award for poetry
Prairie Roots is a reminder of the fact that love is never truly lost.
–Daisuke Shen, author of Vague Predictions & Prophecies
In the place-based bardic tradition of poetry as storytelling, James Lowell Hall is a gracious host. His poems welcome us into his family. Come rest a moment in these unsettled times. Lose yourself in stories, in hope.
–Art Goodtimes, Western Slope Poet Laureate, Codirector of the Telluride Institute’s Talking Gourdes
Prairie Roots is an act of tender reclamation. Read these poems and let your heart melt, your smile break out wide.
–Judyth Hill, author of the internationally acclaimed poem “Wage Peace”
I was charmed by this collection documenting a vanishing way of life, a small town, rural, midwestern sensibility, landscape, worldview–the idea of American is front and center.
–TJ Beitelman, author of In Order to Form a More Perfect Union and Americana
… a beautifully written and powerful collection that is grounded in family myth and reality in a deeply captivating way.
–Caitlin Jans, founding editor of Authors Publish Magazine
… a magical trip to Delavan, Illinois, at the turn of the 20th century. Go back to a time when life and days were simpler but harder, and most of all where family was everything.
–Mary Beth Bretzlauf, president of the Illinois State Poetry Society.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
James Lowell Hall is a practicing physician in Chicago, Illinois. He is married with two children and quirky German Shepherd, Moli. He is the author of Good Night Sweetheart Goodnight and Lillibridge Houses, and edits the poetry column “Poetic Ponderings” in Wilmette Living Magazine. Every Christmas Season he opens the Lillibridge family home in Delavan for a celebration of family.
FROM THE BOOK:
To a Father Dying Young
inspired by A.E. Houseman
by James Lowell Hall
I dreamt of my father last night.
We stand waiting for a table,
in a bustling Italian restaurant.
Aromas of oregano, sage, Chianti
mix with contagious laughter.
The water captain directs servers,
keeps bread baskets filled and tops off wine.
I try to get the maître d’s ear,
find out how long until our large party
can be seated. I look across
the room, where Dad is talking
with someone I don’t know.
The room is loud. I cannot hear.
Stopping his conversation, he smiles,
sage green eyes penetrate mine,
connect in familiar quiet ease.
A checkered table for two opens.
I think I should grab Dad and take it.
The two of us could sit an reminisce,
but we are part of a group too large to seat.
There will be time to catch up later.
The dream ends before we get a table.
I wake, pillow damp, spent, longing.
So many questions never answered.
Washing sleep from my eyes,
In the mirror, Dad’s face looks back at me.
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