Mornings at McDonnells by Katherine Russell Barnes 36 page perfect bound $9.95 + $1.50 S&H is a collection of the subsequent poems based on the observations of the author - moments in the lives of people who came in for a quick bite of breakfast and then went about the business of the day - moments that reveal our universal human nature and how we respond to others. The author’s habits have changed, but when she read these poems, she hears the morning clatter and smell the coffee. To order your copy, send check or money order to: Katherine Russell Barnes, 1708 Mayflower Dr., 
Wilson, NC 27893. To contact the author call 252 237 0792


Nominated for The Pushcart Prize 2014

Other books by this author:
Treading Water

About the Book
About the Author

About the book

For many years, I ate breakfast at McDonalds before going to my nearby office. It was my habit to sit alone at a single table, eat a bacon and cheese biscuit, and drink two cups of coffee. This was my private time. I seldom engaged in conversation, but I observed and listened, writing down my thoughts and impressions. Mornings at McDonnells is a collection of the subsequent poems - moments in the lives of people who came in for a quick bite of breakfast and then went about the business of the day - moments that reveal our universal human nature and how we respond to others. My habits have changed, but when I read these poems, I hear the morning clatter and smell the coffee. 

Samples of the Work:
 
ADVICE

You can learn almost anything 
at McDonnell’s:
when to plant fescue,
who won last night’s
championship game,
that adding a pinch of soda
will sweeten collards.

But one bit of advice:
Be careful where you sit,
just in case
your name comes up.

WITHOUT HAM

They gather around him at McDonnell’s.
Accept his Pollyanna adages.

But she sits alone, reading.
Will not be drawn into his circle.
Prefers her own counsel.

Feeling rejected, he labels her unfriendly.
“Naw,” one drawls, defending her.
“Some just like their biscuit plain.”


About the Author

KATHERINE RUSSELL BARNES, a retired nurse, lives in Wilson, NC. She is married and has three children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
      Katherine has written poetry for over forty years and has won many awards. Her poems have been published in Crucible, Dragonfly, Icarus, Pembroke Magazine, Earth and Soul and many other literary magazines and anthologies. Kathryn Stripling Byer, former North Carolina’s  Poet Laureate named her Poet of the Week in 2009.
     She is particularly proud of Earth and Soul, a joint literary venture with a Russian press. Poems were in both Russian and English, producing an anthology which was distributed throughout Russia in schools and libraries.
      She is a member of the NC Poetry Society, The Poetry Council of NC and a charter member of the NC Haiku Society. She has held offices, led workshops, judged contests, and critiqued other’s work, with the hope of promoting poetry and a love of the language.
     She has been a member of many organizations in her home state such as the NC Poetry Society, the Poetry Council of NC, and the NC Writers’ Network and is a charter member of the NC Haiku Society. Her involvement includes holding offices, leading workshops, and judging contests always with the hope of advancing poetry and its appreciation.  A lover of language, for all of her 82 plus years, it still befriends, and inspires her after the loss of her sight to macular degeneration. 
      Old Mountain Press published her collection Treading Water in 2009. Lifework of the Heart, a chapbook, was published by In His Steps in 2004.

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