Half New Year: A Collection of Poetry About Midpoints (Silver Birch Press Anthologies) (Volume 8)

A collection of poems to celebrate Half New Year and all things in the middle! The 27 poets and poems include:

Karen Boissonneault-Gauthier / The Gathering

Mary-Marcia Casoly / Venus on the Half Year

Tobi Cogswell / Remembered on the Half Century

Daniel Patrick Delaney / In the Middle

Barbara Eknoian / Happy Half Year

Mark Erickson / where the grass grows

Adelle Foley / Half New Year Haiku

Jack Foley / Year of the Horse (in two halves)

Shreyas Gokhale / A Happier Half Year

Deborah Herman / Though a Little Out of Fashion

Veronica Hosking / Rain Drops

Clara Hsu / Japanese Garden

Mathias Jansson / Vertical Descent

Jax NTP / if the value of a cup is the emptiest space inside of it

Wm. Todd King / Body Doubles

Roz Levine / Behind the Drapes

Tamara Madison / Midsummer

Adrian Manning / Half Way

Jocelyn Mosman / New Day

D.A. Pratt / Happy New Half Year!

Patrick T. Reardon / Sonnet 18/2

Sheikha A. / Halved Sanity

Rachael Stanford / marching towards the light

Jacque Stukowski / My “Middle” blue earth

Matthew M.C. Tapp / Half New Year’s Day

Dirk Velvet / celebrate half

Christopher P.P. White / Half a Year of Being Half a Man

While it’s customary to note the passage of one year to the next, people seldom stop to reflect on the day that marks the exact middle of the year—July 2nd—when 182 days have passed and 182 days remain. In 2014, Silver Birch Press decided to celebrate Half New Year with a call for poetry submissions that touched on the theme of half, middle, or center—or erasure poems created from page 72 (for 7/2) in any book.

The resulting poems ranged from the humorous to the heartfelt, from silly to serious, and from witty to whimsical—and much more. Half New Year reminds us to consider what has occurred during the year as well give thought to our hopes for the months ahead. As we ponder finished and unfinished business, opportunities taken and those missed, words spoken and those left unsaid, it’s reassuring to remember that we still have half a year to move closer to what brings us joy and fulfillment.