As I prepared for a celebration of living poets for each day of the month of March, I was looking for a short collection of poems about place and nature. I found one on state parks in South Carolina in this ultra-compact book that looks like an appetizer but satisfies like a meal. This collection, The Song of Everything, is special because of the way it was written. Meet Glenis Redmond, the living poet I’m celebrating today.
You can read about Glenis Redmond here. This is a short collection of poems she wrote as she took her grandson on a tour of South Carolina’s State Parks as she battled cancer. Together, they visited these parks as she wrote poems to document their journey and time together. She is a cancer survivor. I’m using the lines of poems throughout her collection to create a cento poem.
Paint the Town Green
I want to paint the town green.
I never turn down an invitation.
Glazed eyes, I go into a poem
in sync with the song of everything.
Lines for this Cento were taken from these poems, in this order: Greener; Head in the Clouds; How Nature Calls Me; This is How We Do It
Common Threads 
”The song of everything” is a beautiful line. You must be feeling in sync with poetry in this deep dive you are doing.
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The title draws me in – “the song of everything” is intriguing. And there it is in your lovely poem, too!
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Mim,
The idea for this collection is one I’d love to see replicated in every state. How fabulous if you took on Georgia. Maybe a collection of poems covering the entire nation would be nice, too. You are finding some obscure poems. I imagine cancer and knowing death is imminent changes one’s view of the world.
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Your poem is, as always, amazing; yet, the back story of the creation of the book of poems from state parks is what I am taking with me today. Such an amazing memory created and saved in the written word,
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Amazing! What a meaningful way for the poet to document beautiful moments with family in beautiful places while experiencing challenging times. Your description that it “looks like an appetizer but satisfies like a meal” is my favorite part of your slice. Thank you for sharing!
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My southern road trip includes South Carolina. Thank you for another poet to explore!
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Oh, what a premise for a book. I love that she did that with her grandson. What a way to fight cancer. I love this line:
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