We held a launch of sprinting on quicksand and of Riverton Press in late November. A Covid regulated affair, outdoors, max 30 persons. It was a good day, perfect 24 degrees. Eileen Haley spoke and launched the book, she wore the colours of the poem PINK AND BLUE, but no pink, no blue, she chose the charcoal greys, outback reds and rebellious orange, and looked a treat.
I wore a hat, not a fascinator (next time!), just one I grabbed as I walked out the door, but it made a difference, I was congratulated on the hat, on the establishment of Riverton Press, and for organising the launch. Many were happy to have a wee social event to attend after months of Covid precautionary isolation. And, I hope, they enjoyed the poetry!
Eileen did more research about quicksand and told us more about this element than the author ever imagined. This is typical of the Haley mind, she has a great capacity for investigation and drawing independent conclusions. She told us:
The first question the work posed for me was: Can you really sprint on quicksand? Madame Google and Ms YouTube soon answered that for me: Yes you can. It looks very like somebody walking all over a water bed. The trick is to keep moving. Stand on quicksand and you will sink (though not as rapidly as movies and cartoons suggest). But strike it quickly and it will briefly harden, forming a nearly cylindrical solid region directly below the impact point.
Eileen then used the different regions mentioned in my poetry as those solid cylindrical parts where the poet has struck, so to speak, from the bedrock of Riverton to the heights of Mt Haguro in Japan. And after reading my poem MORNING BLESSING, she concluded:
So I ask you to raise your glasses once again, as we declare SPRINTING ON QUICKSAND launched: may she sprint long and elegantly, and may the Goddess bless her and all who journey with her.