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Life of Poetry Anthology book

Literary Hummingbird

By: Kourtney Nicole

Have you ever wondered why you were born?

During this moment in time? I have. As I lay on the lush green Pensacola  bahiagrass, I look up into the ebony night sky & trace the stars with my fingertip. The very stars from which I have descended holds the answers for my existence. Once my mind is still & after the stars have aligned I realize I am here to raise the vibrations in the Universe. I am here to love & be loved. I am here to learn about myself & learn about others. Most importantly, I am  here to teach. Above all else, I am on Earth to be happy. 

According to Dalai Lama, "the purpose of our lives

is to be happy." The most rewarding aspect of our lives is we are Agents of our own happiness. We have freewill & can determine what makes us happy. We have the gifts & abilities to transmute our creative energy & empower ourselves to create anything. I have discovered I am happiest when I am writing literary art especially poetry. Writer, Anais Nin, has been quoted as saying, "we write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect." I write so readers can feel, taste & touch the setting in their imagination. In turn, feel the vibrations from which the setting takes place. From there readers can vibrate on the same frequency from which I write.

I am a poet, writer & published author. My pen name is Kourtney Nicole Writes: Literary Hummingbird.

As a single mother I have limited funds for creative projects. If awarded I would like to combine the poetry books I have self published on Amazon into one anthology book. I envision using sun-dried sunflowers embossed on the first page inside the book cover. Random pages will be scented with lavender essential oil. All the pages will be folded & altered into the shape of a hummingbird.

This concept came to mind after I read a book about my idol, Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was inspired by the

"The Story of the Hummingbird."

The Story of the Hummingbird

One day a terrible fire broke out in a forest - a huge woodlands was suddenly engulfed by a raging

wild fire. Frightened, all the animals fled their homes and ran out of the forest. As they came to the

edge of a stream they stopped to watch the fire and they were feeling very discouraged and

powerless. They were all bemoaning the destruction of their homes. Every one of them thought

there was nothing they could do about the fire, except for one little hummingbird.

This particular hummingbird decided it would do something. It swooped into the stream and picked

up a few drops of water and went into the forest and put them on the fire. Then it went back to the

stream and did it again, and it kept going back, again and again and again. All the other animals

watched in disbelief; some tried to discourage the hummingbird with comments like, "Don't bother,

it is too much, you are too little, your wings will burn, your beak is too tiny, it’s only a drop, you

can't put out this fire."

And as the animals stood around disparaging the little bird’s efforts, the bird noticed how hopeless

and forlorn they looked. Then one of the animals shouted out and challenged the hummingbird in a

mocking voice, "What do you think you are doing?" And the hummingbird, without wasting time or

losing a beat, looked back and said, "I am doing what I can."

I am doing what I can to raise awareness about the injustices taking place in our local school system.

My spirit animal is a hummingbird. I use my words to raise awareness about social, political & environmental issues affecting our community, especially in our schools. I hope my words sound like music (humming) to the ears of those I advocate for. Where I live, Pensacola, Florida, the issue of systemic & institutionalized racism in the school system bothers me & I'm doing what I can to improve the matter.

I have written poems and commentary about solutions for our community & its leaders. I am going to compile all of my writings & sayings into one anthology book.

For the book cover I will use Katy Sue's 8 inch Square MDF Lattice Journal.

The first page of the book will be covered in 4 sun-dried sunflowers. Each sunflower represents one of my four children.  The reason I love sunflowers can be summed up in one poem.

The Sunflowers by Mary Oliver.

Come with me

into the field of sunflowers.

Their faces are burnished disks,

their dry spines

creak like ship masts,

their green leaves,

so heavy and many,

fill all day with the sticky

sugars of the sun.

Come with me

to visit the sunflowers,

they are shy

but want to be friends;

they have wonderful stories

of when they were young - the

important weather,

the wandering crows.

Don't be afraid

to ask them questions!

Their bright faces,

which follow the sun,

will listen, and all

those rows of seeds - each

one a new life!

Hope for a deeper acquaintance;

each of them, though it stands

in a crowd of many,

like a separate universe,

is lonely, the long work

of turning their lives

into a celebration

is not easy. Come

and let us talk with those modest faces,

the simple garments of leaves,

the coarse roots in the earth

so uprightly burning.

First, I will pick sunflowers from my garden & cut the healthiest flowers from 4" from the stem using Fiskars 8" Floral Fashion Scissors High-grade stainless steel blade for a precise cut.

Second, I will insert the poetry manuscripts in the journal.

Third, I will place the flowers on wax paper in the center of a hardcover book.  Placing the flowers close together on wax paper  will cover the flowers with another layer of wax paper. Then I will close the book & place two hard cover books on top of the flowers. I will set the books out in the sunlight. In three weeks the flowers will be dried.

Fourth, while the flowers are drying I will use Fiskars Majestic Paper Edger Scissors to trim the edges of the top & bottom page in the book to bring the pages to life.

Fifth, for a soft scent I add 1 drop of lavender essential oil onto the top corner of every other page & leave for 24 hours. I choose lavender because according to the peer reviewed & scholarly article, "The effect of aromatherapy with lavender essential oil on sleep quality in patients with major depression," by authors: Zahra Samadi, Yadollah Jannati, Angela Hamidia, Reza Mohammadpour and Ali Hesamzadeh "Aromatherapy with lavender essential oil has positive effects on sleep quality in depressed patients. It can be used as a noninvasive complementary method to improve sleep quality in patients with major depression." I'm happy knowing my poems help soothe my readers.

Sixth, when the sunflowers dry I will remove them from the wax paper & place them on sky blue card stock &

 laminate so the design shows crisply through the laser cut detail of the lattice cut as bright sunflowers blooming in the sky.

Lastly, I will fold & alter the pages into the shape of a hummingbird. This pattern has 223 folds. The designer states the template is easy to follow and requires no marking or measuring.

In a word, I hope reading my hummingbird poetry book makes readers Happy.

Works cited

https://www.beautyofbirds.com/node/6035

The Story of Hummingbird. https://sechangersoi.be/EN/5EN-Tales/Humminbird.htm

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/591941944772881701/

How to make pressed flowers in books. https://youtu.be/TCkUUhE_B3Q

https://katysuedesigns.com/collections/build-a-book/products/8-x-8-mdf-journals-lattice

https://www.fiskars.com/en-us/crafting-and-sewing/products/scissors-and-shears/fashion-scissors-floral-8-194512-1052

How to laminate dried flowers. https://youtu.be/DjNya8UZ0aE

https://www.fiskars.com/en-us/crafting-and-sewing/products/scissors-and-shears/majestic-paper-edger-scissors-192160-1001

How to make fragrant paper. https://craftbits.com/project/fragrant-paper/

Ogu, Uchenna, et al. "QUESTIONS FOR THE SUNFLOWERS: Cultivating science, imagination, and art through sunflowers." Science and Children, vol. 56, no. 3, 2018, p. 52+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A556734495/AONE?u=123650_wfrl&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=0394007d. Accessed 11 June 2021.

Disclaimer

Samadi, Zahra, et al. "The effect of aromatherapy with lavender essential oil on sleep quality in patients with major depression." Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Sciences, vol. 8, no. 2, 2021, p. 67. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A661263607/AONE?u=123650_wfrl&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=bc60789c. Accessed 11 June 202