Waiting for the Wood Thrush
, a first poetry collection by Ashley Memory of Asheboro, North Carolina, includes 23 poems united by the themes of love and longing, through the lens of nature. She invites you into her own back yard where you can relive the triumphant and sad life of a magnificent Northern Red Oak; hear the eerie and evocative song of the wood thrush; and even learn how to see a ghost. Take a trip through history and visit the Old Burying Ground in Beaufort, N.C., fall down the steps again with Addie Hash Warp, the stuntwoman for Vivien Leigh in the movie
Gone with the Wind
; and even travel to the Montmartre section of Paris, where you can rent the apartment of the mysterious Elisabeth still pining for an old lover. And if love is on your mind, read the love story of two donkeys torn apart and reunited or the unrequited love of a 1948 high school couple from Chapel Hill, N.C.
These poems have placed in numerous contests, including winning first and second places in competitions sponsored by the North Carolina Poetry Society. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and she has won the Doris Betts Fiction Prize sponsored by the N.C. Writers' Network twice.