Through the years, several of my poems have been published in anthologies. Here you can see where you can find them - and read some of the poems as well!
The Society of Classical Poets, Journal VII
I’ve had quite a few poems published on the “Society of Classical Poets” website. Each year, the editors choose some of their favorite poems to include in an anthology. Journal VII features a sonnet I wrote titled “Letters We Wrote,” describing the many letters my friend Diane and I wrote to each other throughout junior high and high school when she would spend the summers with her family in Yellowstone.
Letters We Wrote
By Tonya McQuade
Across the months of summer and the states,
We wrote our lengthy letters, wrote our lives –
Descriptions of our summer days and dates,
Each to our mailbox drawn like bees to hives.
We wrote our girlish gossip so that we
Might keep our friendship fast though miles apart;
We wrote our hopes and dreams of what might be,
Our thoughts, concerns, and what lay on our heart.
Each summer, while in Yellowstone, she wrote;
And I, in Antioch, would do the same.
Whoever wrote the longest then would gloat!
My thirty-eight-page letter won the game.
I’m glad we could not text or email then:
I treasure all those letters writ by pen.
The Society of Classical Poets, Journal VIII
This edition features two of my poems: “Pieta” and “Riddle VIII,” both written in 2020. I was expecially proud of “Pieta,” which I wrote after our family’s visit to Italy. There, we saw a special Pieta exhibit at Sforza Castle when we were in Milan. Here’s a link to “Pieta” on the Society of Classical Poets website.
And here’s my “riddle poem” that took eighth place in that year’s contest:
They each need fire to be born;
By some, a fire’s scar is worn.
The fire’s ash helps them to thrive—
Without it, they’d not be alive.
They grow quite tall as well as round;
In the Sierras they are found.
Their shallow roots spread far and wide
And link with others by their side.
The mightiest has a general’s name—
As well as natural acclaim.
Beside them, one feels truly small—
It must strike awe to see one fall.
This was my first “anthology” experience. America at the Millennium: The Best Poems and Poets of the 20th Century features my poem “New Life,” which I wrote in 1995 when I was pregnant with Aaron. It’s actually one of my favorites.
New Life
By Tonya McQuade (1995)
A twitch,
a flutter,
a kick –
each one assures me you are
inside,
alive and strong
and growing –
a bud
soaking in the sunshine
that will cause you to bloom
into full maturity;
a wave
gathering strength
as you prepare to break
upon the shores of life;
a rain drop
gently falling to earth,
inevitably to join
with the pools of humanity;
a baby
tenderly being knit together
in your mother’s womb –
a mother
eagerly and anxiously awaiting
the sound of your cries,
the thrill of your touch,
the warmth of your embrace,
and the joy of your love.
My poem “These Boots” appears in this issue of the Los Gatos High School Wildcat Review literary magazine. Another poem, “Today’s War,” appears in the Spring 2020, No. 4 edition.
Three: An Anthology of Flash Nonfiction
For this anthology, contributors had to tell a story with three haikus, three paragraphs, or three photos. Two of my submissions were published: “Contrasts” (three haikus) and “Saying Goodbye” (three paragraphs). The haikus were based on my experience returning to California after living in Osaka, Japan. The paragraphs told the story of saying goodbye to Aaron as he headed off to college.
