Poems On Joy

Ten Mile native authors poetry collection

HUNTINGTON - Laura Clay Newlon, a native of Ten Mile in Lincoln County, has just completed a collection of poetry that has been in the works for a number of years.

Speaking to The Lincoln Journal last week, Newlon said that she had been working on the book, Words On Paper, since 1995. This is her first publication.

�I have loved writing since I was a child. I mostly wrote short stories. But, I always enjoyed reading poetry, especially in grade school. I didn�t start writing poetry until 1995.

Guyan Valley High School student Newlon left Lincoln County in 2000 and now lives in Cabell County. She later attended Ashland Business College. She is the daughter of Manuel and Gusty Clay and the sister of Edward, Jessie, Harold, Bobby, Joyce, Vickie, Dwane and Timmy. Newlon has two sons, James and Joshua Webb.

Newlon described what had motivated her to assemble the collection of poems. �I was bedridden, with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) for a number of years. About a year into having the condition, words to these poems seems to just come to me in a rush. I could not wait to grab my pen and put the words on paper. That�s what gave me the title of my book, Words on Paper. It was a gift from God to me, to share with others,� explained Newlon last week.

The writing has been a source of great joy to Newlon. �Even when it�s a sad subject, it�s a joy for me to capture what is in my heat. To get that into words, looking back at me from the page, is a great accomplishment to me, as well as being a precious gift.�

The collection of poems spans the eleven years from 1995 to 2006. However, Newlon says that in 1996, God revealed to her that the collection would become a book someday, but in His time. She added that she has a number of other poems that are not included in the collection. She has no definite plans to write another book, but has ideas the might one day lead to a second publication.

Describing her debilitating medical condition, Newlon said that CFS is an immune disease similar to multiple sclerosis or lupus. �It affects the whole body. I had a severe case, with CFS seizures. Other symptoms include heart palpitations, brain fog and weakness in the muscles. It can get to the point at times that you can�t walk.� Newlon also described other ways in which CFS sufferers are affected by the disease. �Sufferers can develop swollen lymp nodes in neck and under the arms.

Poetry for Kids Joy: FIVE RED PICKUP TRUCKS

Joy Acey, the Princess of Poetry,has won many prizes for her poems and has published in several small journals and anthologies. She is a performance artist and conducts writing workshops for children and adults. She’s hopped a freight train and rode in a boxcar over the world's second largest wooden trestle bridge. She was on a TV game show and won enough money for a trip to Australia. She has lived in England and Japan. She has walked across a volcano in Hawaii and a glacier in New Zealand. She has gone swimming with iguanas in the Galapagos and was in Ecuador during a revolution. Always looking for new adventures to write about, she currently lives in Tucson, Arizona with her husband and a welsh springer spaniel named Spot.

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