"You try to play me like a fiddle when you don’t know how to play

Talking black and white observations when it’s really all gray…"

“I immediately thought about “Almost Forgotten” and then two other books on Black history that bookended that work.

Those other two books — John V. Jezierski’s “Enterprising Images,” about York’s three Goodridge brothers who became pioneering Black photographers, and Daisy Myers’ autobiography “Sticks ’n Stones” — had a national scope. All three books — Jezierski’s, Myers’ and “Almost Forgotten” — tell about the Black experience in York County in three literary forms: biography, autobiography and general history, respectively.”

“It uses concentrated language: less words, more meaning. All words are chosen carefully by the poet so that each word is important… For me, poetry adds definition and clarity to my place in the world, and I can’t imagine life without it.”

“A young man visits the area of her home during summer vacation, discovering her and the beautiful coast of her home. He is looking for artistic inspiration and enters her world. She finds in him love, companionship, hope, and the desire to reach beyond her self-made limitations.

Andrew Wyeth is the man's name, an Artist.”

These novels give readers hope that their next best friend or love of their life is waiting for them somewhere - maybe in a hospital hallway, in the English countryside, or even on a magical island… there are no deeper relationships than those forged in fate and driven by destiny, in spite of and against the odds.

“The weather report is in. There’s been a long drought of prophetic vision and public moral courage. The situation is dire.

Your divining rods for compassionate justice and Beloved Community can transform the forecast.”

“Ever since I was a young girl, I’ve loved reading books about strong women. Beginning in elementary school, I remember the library books on the shelf: Joan of Arc, Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart, Anne Frank, Eleanor Roosevelt, Pearl Buck, Helen Keller. These books were biographies, but in recent years, I’ve discovered the “memoir,” which is a collection of personal memories written by the women themselves.”

“As much as culture gives us sayings like 'time is merely a construct' or the capitalist view of 'time is money'; I've often wondered - is there any other way that I can understand what time is? Of course, my go-to thought is to find an answer in a book. Did I find one singular answer? No, but I did find a beautiful unfolding of why I'm more settled than ever to continue journeying through time.”

“Not only do I wonder how people can exist without a constant stream of thoughts running through their heads, but I will one-up things here. I don't know how people survive without constant musical accompaniment inside their heads.”

“And even though I can see you there, we aren’t in the same spot. Our paths crossed but never merged. I may see my resting place while yours is too far in the distance. We are different because we are and were shaped differently.”

I sat next to a sunburn
I sat next to a sea
His edges were salt
So strong the scent of water…

You can explain to me
In all the best vocabulary…

Artists whose tools are pencils, pens, and keyboards rather than brushes and paints rarely have the opportunity to display their literary thoughts unless they have a publishing deal. And even then — where and how to share shorter written works?

Downtown York's The Grotto will provide that space, at least for the duration of the "Simple Pleasures" exhibition on written works.

I noticed when life got dark... so did the light in my eyes

Dreams of searching, didn't realize me I'd find

Rubbing stones to spark my divine

It's an equation to divide…

“In my spiritual tradition, Mabon is celebrated on the Autumnal Equinox and marks the second harvest. While the first harvest was celebrated in August with the gathering of grapes, berries, corn, wheat and grain, Mabon marks harvesting and feasting on the last of the corn, beans, squash, apples, pumpkins, root vegetables and pomegranates.”

To say that local author Phyl Campbell has published a “book or two” would be quite an understatement.