Ikeogu Oke attended our Crash Course in Children’s Book Publishing this past weekend. A celebrated poet and public affairs commentator from Abuja, Nigeria, Ikeogu wrote the following poem about his visit to the Highlights Foundation.

 

Honesdale

by Ikeogu Oke

November 12, 2016

 

I stayed, a guest of Highlights¹,

In a cabin deep in Honesdale²,

Where trees in fall, though shivering,

Stood sentry all about, their frayed coats

Of yellow leaves piled on the forest floor.

 

A journal on its oaken desk

Would call its care the best;

And though I hadn’t seen the rest,

I couldn’t but agree – with those

Who said its simple cheer

Was cozier than the rest,

Who had shared this balmy bed

Before I’d lodged in it?

And felt its cradling arms like milk

That kept the cold at bay.

 

The workshop was itself

Again beyond my thoughts, a programme

Truly well-designed to uplift the young

With tales: to improve earth’s children

And their lot with stories fun and wise.

And what with that tour of Boyds³,

Her nearby cousin press!

 

Many, the good souls I met,

Teachers, learners, all, whose

Names and deeds I can’t disclose

Or leave the others’ out.

 

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¹Highlights: The Highlights Foundation.

²Honesdale: A rural part of Pennsylvania.

³Boyds: Boyds Mills Press.