WOYWW #765 - Bittersweet - A Re-binding

 Hello, Crafty Creatives

How did Wednesday get here so quickly, again?  I missed the WOYWW challenge last week and I am determined not to miss it this week.  I am just a little bit late!  The first month of 2024 made me think of a song we used to sing in church many many years ago, "I'm Coming Up On The Rough Side Of The Mountain."  Thank G-d, all of my news so far this year has been great!

The photo above shows what my desk looked like at 2:30am!  I was on a mission to complete this project in time to have a complete post, but that did not happen. Needless to say, I slept in this morning!

Bittersweet - A Re-binding

The project on which I am currently working has great sentimental meaning for me.  Bittersweet is a collection of stories and poems that were written by high school students from the 1920s through the 1950s. These creative writings were all winners in the Scholastic Magazine's Creative Writing Competition.  

In 1967, my English teacher submitted one of my poems and one of my short stories to the competition.  My entries were not winners, but I did get a certificate and we all received copies of "Bittersweet."   I don't know if SAS Books has published a collection since that time, but "Bittersweet" has traveled with me from high school to college.  From the military to marriage, the birth of my children, back to college, and now in my craftroom.

The cover of the book fell off and the pages are beginning to fall apart as well.  I probably should have re-covered it years ago.  I put the front cover aside, but could not find it anywhere.  I only have one page of the three table of content pages.

I kept the original spine.  Even though it is covered it is nice to have at least one part of the original book included.

I chose papers in the pallet of the original and also school-themed.  I was going to use some writing-themed paper but the colors were not vintage.

So this is what my desk looks like this morning!  There is still much left to do but at least I won't lose any more pages.

One of my favorite poems from this collection is "Spartan Parents."  It is too long to reproduce here, so I thought I would share another of my favorites.  "Seventeen."

Seventeen

by Eugenia M. Paul  (1933)

Age speaks wisdom, and age speaks truth,

And the seasoned tongues are keen,

But give me the honeyed lies of youth

And keep my wisdom green.

Fire may burn, and the burning teach

The moth what candles are,

But let me clutch what is out of reach

And die en route to a star.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugz,

Chana Malkah