News

March 24

Now that tomorrow's book celebration is about to be history, it's time for a few announcements. But first a bit of explanation. The Warrior's Stance is the title of Laura Jeanne Morefield's poetry chapbook. It contains pre- and post-diagnosis works. As you know, Laura (October 8,1960-July 17, 2011) assigned this task to me, her mommy, prior to her death, knowing that I would fulfill her request. The book's publication was made possible through the generosity of Laura's husband, Dan Morefield, and the entire sales price goes directly to the Colon Cancer Alliance in Washington, DC. I'd also like to thank book designer Patty Keverhan and web site designer Kelley Worrall.

Laura and Dan Morefield

The news is as follows:

1. During the final week of National Poetry Month, April 26 to be precise, I've been asked to present The Warrior's Stance at the Poetry & Art evening at Museum of the Living Artist, Balboa Park. Other featured artists are Jenni Minniti-Sheppey, managing editor at Poetry International, and SD Writer's Ink  executive director Amy Locklin. 
My longtime friend Rob Wesley will bring The Warrior's Stance, which you may purchase for $20 at the interval. The evening gets under way with munchies and wine at 6:30 and presentations begin around 7 pm. Admission is $5 or a bottle of wine to share. Host is Michael Klam  (619) 236-0011 or (619) 957-3264. To sign up for culminating open mike email mkklam@gmail.com

2. During the first week in July, San Diego Fringe Festival presents The Warriors' Duet, which is based upon some of Laura's poems. Exact times, dates and location are yet to be determined. Director is Ann Gehman. 

Stay tuned for further news. If you want more background on the relationship of warriors, go to http://charlenebaldridge.blogspot.com and for Laura's blog go to http://lauramorefield.weebly.com

Praise

Praise

by Charlene Baldridge

Laura Jeanne Morefield
Dallas, April 2010

I still keep your jewelry

separate from mine as if

any day you will reappear to

claim it, to wear it gloriously again.

Even in basic black you had such

style. I miss that elegance and

also the warmth and humor

that came with it.

For far too long now I’ve met you

only on the page. Spellcheck

and topography and precise

punctuation are fine, but

I long for your arms, your

lips, your voice, telling me

Atta girl, Mommy.

The bookseller and the blind woman

Today I sold a book to a blind woman. Lena is a regular at the coffee shop on the corner.

When I told her that The Warrior’s Stance had finally arrived, she asked, “Oh, may I hold it?”

I put the book into Lena’s hands and she said, “It feels gorgeous. What does it look like?”

The large section of the front cover depicts a Warrior. Lavender, his outline emerges from a rectangle the color of cabernet. The Warrior is dressed in ragged clothes, lunging into the warrior’s pose, one foot in front of the other, his weapon held high, poised for confrontation, is merely a slim tree branch with leaves still clinging to one end.

The model, drawn from memory, was a homeless man I saw in Balboa Park one day circa 1990. I never dreamed that his stance would one day come to symbolize my 48-year old daughter Laura Jeanne Morefield’s fight with stage four colon cancer. The Warrior’s pose adorns the cover of chapbook that Laura asked me to produce. It was during one of our mother-daughter afternoons two months prior to her death.

“And here on the back,” I told Lena, “is a lavender panel with handwritten passages from Laura’s journal reversed out in the cabernet color. And at the top of each page is a strip of cabernet each with a different handwritten entry taken from her notebooks. The poem titles are reversed out in white.”

“Oh,” said Lena. “It’s so beautiful.” She purchased a copy, intending to give it eventually to her niece. But first she will take it to the public library where they have a machine that “translates” copy into words so that she can “read” the entire book.

Before Lena left I read one of Laura’s poems aloud, the one titled “I invented bodysurfing.”

When Lena left, I wept, wanting to share the experience with Laura. “She knows already, Charlene,” said my wise friend Rob. “She knows.”

Laura Jeanne Morefield and her mom
2008

 

It's here!

The Warrior's Stance is here! 

Used to dropping boxes of publications at warehouses, the deliveryman from Neyenesch Printers was surprised to be greeted with tears of joy. After nearly two years of work, the boxes he dropped in a corner of my office are the fulfillment of a promise made to my late daughter, poet Laura Morefield two months before her death. Inside each book are her poems, mostly written after her diagnosis.

We need to talk, all of us, about loss. It is not a rare thing. It is something we all endure. The delivery man confided that his mother recently died. His nephew suffers from an awful, debilitating disease. We all lose; we all will be lost.

So put on your warrior garments and read this luminous, love- and life-filled work, so gorgeously produced by Neyenesch and so gloriously and lovingly designed by Patty Kevershan.

Proceeds benefit Colon Cancer Alliance, Laura and Dan Morefield's chosen charity. To obtain your copy and matching bookmark, send a check for $20 made payable to Colon Cancer Alliance to Charlene Baldridge, 3450 2nd Avenue, #12, San Diego, CA 92103. Postage is an additional $5. Or phone (619) 296-8044 and arrangements may be made for you to pick up your copy.

A celebration of the book's publication will be held between 4 and 7 p.m. Monday, March 25, at ion theatre's URBN CNTR 4THEARTS, 6th near Pennsylvania. Reservations are required. RSVP to charb81@cox.net