Elaine Marie Carnegie
- Feb 7, 2021
- 4 min read

FROM RHYMES TO WRITING

Please welcome Eva Marie Cagley along her "Journey" to the Writer's Journey Blog this week.

I started learning about poetry through the nursery rhymes and stories I was read as a child, which also taught me how to read. Like Little Bo Peep, Humpty Dumpty, Hey Diddle Diddle. and Mary Had a Little Lamb…I loved playing the rhyming game.

I got extremely interested in poetry through our English class in sixth grade. We were studying Robert Frost and breaking his poetry down to understand it. He wrote a lot about nature. It was all new to me and exciting when I wrote my first poem.

I couldn’t wait to get home and show it to my parents as I had gotten an A on it. Ever since then I've had a love for poetry. I kept a diary and often wrote poems in it. As a teenager, I wrote love poems to my boyfriend. It was the best way of expressing my feelings. I was not allowed to date until I was sixteen years old. But I had a boyfriend before then.

I loved English class throughout my Junior and High school years. I took all the English credits I could including creative writing and composition. I knew we would be studying poetry. I had a thirst for it like a newborn for its mother’s milk!

I ran away from home at the age of sweet sixteen with my boyfriend and hitchhiked all over Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois etc. I learned a lot about life in those three months I was on my own. After three months of h**l— living on the road I wanted to just go back home. The experience made me wiser and taught me to appreciate what I had. I am currently writing the autobiography of my life which will include my experiences from that time on the road.

One must live life to write about it.

With technology moving so quickly these days I don't see kids doing the things I did when growing up. Like playing Hide and Seek, Red Rover; Red Rover, Captain, may I? Even riding bicycles as much. Instead, they are glued to the T.V. set with video games and iPad to their ears. Or on their tablets playing games. They are missing out on living life as a child, I think. Popping a movie into the VCR is a way of babysitting now.

I didn’t start publishing my works until about 5 years ago. I started by sending my work to various anthologies. I had my first book published in 2015 after the death of both my parents who had a lot to do with it. When my Mother was in the hospital dying and I would bring my poetry for my Aunt Edna to read to her. That was the first time she realized I had been writing for some time. She enjoyed them a lot and every day I would bring poems to the hospital. After my Mother passed my father told me I should publish a book. I wasn’t sure how to go about it at that time so unfortunately, he also passed before I published my first book. I went on to publish five poetry books and a Christmas Miracle story. I believe they would be proud of me now.

Just within the last six months I have started publishing my poetry and essays on- line in ezine magazines and blogs. I take my writing very seriously and donate at least an hour and a half daily to writing. During the times I’m not writing I do a lot of reading and supporting other writers.

I am currently retired due to a disability and find plenty of time to write. I have also found writing to be therapeutic for my depression. My poetry defines whom I am. My experiences hopes and dreams, perspectives on life. I have been asked to write a column on a magazine called Wildfire Publications LLC, Inc. It is a quarterly magazine, and I will be writing about poetry and my philosophy.

I am taking my writing to the next level and expanding out into other works along with my poetry. You can also find my poetry on You-Tube read by Alan Johnson. I have about 29 poems narrated there. As late you can find me on various blogs including Spillwords.com on the internet. I belong to The Poets Narrative where I am an Admin. And I would like to mention The Inner Circle Writers Group on Facebook. This group really gave me the encouragement to start publishing more of my work.

My books can be found on Amazon Kindle and Lulu

Bio: Eva Marie Cagley was born in 1958 to Frank and Priscilla Cagley. Having been raised in Waterloo, Iowa where she spent most of her time working with teenagers as a counselor. Working with teenagers gave her great joy, having had none of her own… She came from a large family with nine siblings. She has always had a passion for poetry and believes it is a gift from God… There's little else to say about her as her writing reflects who she is. Her beliefs, perspectives, trials, and tribulations hope and despair, dreams of all her lives’ journeys… She currently has four poetry books published and a Miracle story. Her work can be found on various web sites and YouTube.

Author & Journalist...

Elaine Marie Carnegie-Padgett

Traveler, Dreamer & Seeker of Knowledge-Stone Pony Author Services

FROM RHYMES TO WRITING

One must live life to write about it.

Given with love, she leaves you now within “The Garden of Her Mind!”

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