Explanation/Thanks

I shouldn't explain, but I will:

I worked for a while slapping stickers on boxes and sending them away-- a monotonous job, so I amused myself with names and places. My co-worker said her favorite name from a label was, "Stoneburner." The tag in my hand was going to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and the name and the place murmurred in my mind through a long afternoon. What name could be exotic enough to pair with "Stoneburner? "Ariadne" didn't quite fit, but "Jocasta?" Well!

Around the same time I read Someone's review (I don't know whose) of Someone Else's poetry, (I don't know whose) sneering: "It reads like Assonance 101!"

Assonance 101?
Sounds like fun!

Weeks later, after I'd written a couple of drafts of the first poem, a friend mentioned a set of stories featuring "Jocasta Stones."

Oops. My apologies to Patrick Carman, whom I've not read (yet).

Thank you to Tina for her favorite name
and thank you to Susan who inspired enthusiastic magic and roisterous joy!

(This whole blogging thing is new to me; I apologize for the bottom-to-top, early-to-later order of the poems. The chronological first post is the first poem in the collection. I'll do better with the next series of poems, which should be ready soon.)