Long Marriage Tortoise
​
The tortoise would rather not creep
through the rain across a muddy road,
but it does. If it moved faster, it fears
it might lose the race. In fact,
devoted to the companionable
plod forward: small pebbles, cool earth
on its rounded feet, the tortoise
does not care about the race. It would take too long
for the slow-speaking tortoise to name
its humble blessings. It has grown to enjoy
the weight of its domed shell fused
and indistinguishable from its body.
~ Kathleen Aguero
Sam Hamlin
Stubborn Tree
Watercolor
Meet the Creators
Kathleen Aguero
Kathleen Aguero’s most recent book of poetry is World Happiness Index from Tiger Bark Books. Her other poetry collections include After That, Investigations: The Mystery of the Girl Sleuth, Daughter Of, The Real Weather, and Thirsty Day. She has co-edited three volumes of multi-cultural literature for the University of Georgia Press (A Gift of Tongues, An Ear to the Ground, and Daily Fare). She teaches in the Solstice low-residency M.F.A. program at Lasell University and in Changing Lives through Literature, an alternative sentencing program. Kathleen has received grants from the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and the Elgin Cox foundation.
Sam Hamlin
I am a retired elementary school teacher. I have been a watercolor painter for most of my adult life. I trained with two exceptional painter-teachers, Ruth Franson of Hamilton and Betty Lou Schlemm of Rockport. I owe my painting life to them and hear them speaking in my ear each time I pick up my brush.