A Poet Deals with Breast Cancer Redefining Beauty Karla K. Morton
Marian Haddad
Gruene, Texas: at the River* Marian Haddad
I came here because I know this place—because I have been here before, and I know where the river ends—I sit by the part where it foams white above rocks—three stumps reach far down into this river—and there, across from me, one seems to be growing right out of cliff, right out of rock. It leans— graceful sway of trunk—it has somehow found its leaning comfortable, a sideways growing— if something stays bent long enough—it assumes its place gracefully—learns to live with that *from Wildflower. Stone. Pecan Grove Press, 2011
*Marian Haddad, MFA, is a Pushcart-nominated poet, writer, manuscript and publishing consultant, private writing mentor, visiting writer, and creative writing workshop instructor. Her chapbook Saturn Falling Down was published at the request of Texas Public Radio in connection with their Hands-On Poetry workshops (2003). Her full-length collection Somewhere between Mexico and a River Called Home (Pecan Grove Press, 2004) is approaching its fifth printing. Her new collection, exploring connection to place and the geography of home, was published by Pecan Grove Press in 2011 and is entitled Wildflower. Stone. The poem "Gruene, Texas: at the River" is taken from this collection. Her poems, essays, reviews, and articles have been published in various literary journals and anthologies in the United States, Belgium, and in several Middle Eastern countries. A National Endowment for the Humanities recipient, she engaged in graduate work in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and studied the prose poem at Emerson College. She holds a BA in creative writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and an MFA from San Diego State University, where she was associate editor of Poetry International, vol. 3. She has taught at Our Lady of the Lake University, Northwest Vista College, and St. Mary’s University. Her works in progress include a collection of essays about growing up Arab American in a Mexican American border town. She writes a blog for the San Antonio Express-News.
Redefining Beauty: Photo by Walter Eagleton
A Poet Deals with Breast Cancer Redefining Beauty Karla K. Morton*
Texas Poet Laureate Karla K. Morton was diagnosed with an aggressive breast tumor in May 2008 during a routine mammogram. She describes cancer as if it were a drunken gunfighter on her front porch, “loose matches spilling out of its ugly fists.” The Fort Worth, Texas, native daughter has always been in love with words, but when she looked for books to help her deal with her diagnosis, nothing suited her. She created her own therapy by writing her way through treatment. Redefining Beauty is the result—a collection of poetry and photos that takes readers through the emotional stages of her year of fighting breast cancer. (Photo by Walter Eagleton) She loses breast tissue and her waist-length blonde hair. Yet she writes, “I will not hide,” dismisses her custom wig and big sheltering hat—instead wearing her cancer out loud. Morton takes chemo, “skulls and crossbones dripped and seeped into my veins,” and feels toasted by months of radiation. “Unseen fire burns everything in its path” describes how radiation affected her, inside and out. Yet she is comforted by her cat and reminded by her saved-from-the-pound dog that “miracles happen.” Married to Stan Morton (a healthcare CEO), with whom she has a daughter and a son, she often addresses him as her Beloved or talks about her relationships with friends and family. There is one poem about her great-grandmother, whose life and mettle inspire her to go around “armed in a swaggering clomp of cowboy boots, tough, pointed, ready for a fight.” More at www.voicesdelaluna.com. ___________________________________________________ *Karla K. Morton, the 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, is a celebrated poet, author, and storyteller. She is the author of Wee Cowrin’ Timorous Beastie (a North Texas Book Festival Awards Finalist), Redefining Beauty, Stirring Goldfish, Becoming Superman, and several upcoming books, including Names We’ve Never Known (Texas Review Press) and a collection of her works as part of the Poet Laureate series by TCU Press. Morton’s poetry, which spans many subjects and forms, has also been published in a variety of literary journals, including descant, (Betsy Colquitt Award Winner), AmarilloBay, Concho River Review, Southwestern American Literature, Oak Bend Review, Wichita Falls Literary and Art Review, Right Hand Pointing, Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas, Texas Poetry Calendar, Illya’s Honey, Austin International Poetry Anthology, New Texas, Denton Writer’s League Anthology, and ARDENT. An avid photographer, Morton has had several showings of her black and white artwork across the state, and loves to mix poetry and the arts. She also serves as a board member of the Greater Denton Arts Council. She has been featured on “Good Morning Texas,” NPR, and the “Art of Living Gallery” (national show on Veria TV). Morton holds a journalism degree from Texas A&M University and currently resides in Denton, Texas, with her husband and two children. For more information, visit www.kkmorton.com or www.facebook.com/karlakmorton, and www.voicesdelaluna.com.
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