The Female Morgan Freeman??!!! Me??!!!!

Recently, I received one of the most amazing compliments from a Facebook friend after listening to my short audio readings of a couple of my poems.
He said that I had the perfect southern voice to go along with the verbally painted pictures of my poems.
THEN, he asked if I had heard Morgan Freeman narrate a book?
Duh! !!! Have I heard him???!!! Who hasn't heard him??!!!
Morgan Freeman is THE MASTER of narrations!!!! Period !!! 
And... he's a Mississippi Man ! Woo Hoo!!!! 

Anyway, my Facebook friend said :
"You have the female version going on . I would buy any book that was narrated by you.  You have that voice like the ones that I grew up hearing all my life... The voices of intelligent southern women. It's the sort of voice that will cause you to stop what you are doing and listen"

That has got to be among the best compliments I have EVER received ... comparing (in ANY way ) my reading to Morgan Freeman !!!! WOW!
The only thing that could even come close is the couple of times that people have said that my poems and reading reminded them of Maya Angelou. I ,also, will always remember one elderly gentleman coming up to me after one of my library readings and saying that he could listen to me read my poems all day long. 
I have been truly blessed through the sharing of my life in poems!
I only hope that others are being blessed even half as much by what I do ! 
Always, Always Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi.

 
NOTE TO SELF: I must get on the ball with those books on tape !

DECEMBER is National Read A New Book Month (I've Got a Suggestion For You !)

I LOVE to read ! I LOVE good books !

There is almost nothing more exciting than starting a new book!

One of the happiest moments in my life was when my son Henry came up to me (at about age 5 or 6) and told me " I just love to read!"
It kind of took me by surprise, because it just came out of the blue. 
I still remember it like it was yesterday . We were living in Memphis at the time. I was coming out of the kitchen or going into the kitchen and he stopped me in the dining room with his proclamation.
I gave him a big bear hug and told him that I was SO glad and that he had made his mother VERY happy. He REALLY had! After he walked away, I just stood there for a moment frozen, basking in the afterglow of this new found knowledge about my son.
My son was a "reader"! Of course, I knew that he could read and that he had hundreds of books to encourage him to read (courtesy of two parents who are crazy about books) ,but reading and being a "reader" are two totally different things. Readers know EXACTLY what I mean ! Being a reader runs in my family and I was so happy to find out that it was continuing in my son! I can't even image a life /my life) without books!

I wish that everyone could/would experience the joy of being a true "reader "!

Reading is Fundamental !

If you love Mississippi and you love the south or would like to have a little more 

insight into the southern way of life .

I know that you would really enjoy my books 

Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia - 

A Life In Poems - © 2008 

My Magnolia Memories - In Poems - © 2012

Think about them when you are looking for your 

next NEW book ! 

Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia - A Life In Poems = LINK TO PURCHASE

My Magnolia Memories - In Poems  = LINK TO PURCHASE

Thanksgiving is this Thursday!

I am so thankful! I have been truly blessed!
The Thanksgiving Holiday is a perfect time for each of us to reflect on
all of the things we have to be thankful for and to count our many blessings.
This Thanksgiving we should all express our "Thanksgiving" sentiments to friends and loved ones..and most importantly to the "One" from whom all blessings flow.


REFLECTIONS OF A MISSISSIPPI MAGNOLIA

When I look back on my life,
I think how wonderful it has been;
To have had the most wonderful parents of all,
And a host of wonderful friends.
My high school days were blissful,
And my college days so fun;
Fond memories are one thing for sure,
That I have by the ton.
I'm so glad that I grew up,
On Mississippi sod,
My t-shirt reads: "American by birth,
And southern by the grace of God."
My life has been so wonderful,
I wouldn't change one condition;
As one friend of mine always says,
I should have paid admission.

-from Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems
Copyright 2008 Patricia Neely-Dorsey

Pontotoc County Library Holiday Open House: Book signing

 

Who I Be? by Patricia Neely-Dorsey

 

 

MY POETRY: My Style- Patricia Neely-Dorsey

Many of my poems are rhyming poems. I think that my love of rhyming poems and the rhythm that seems to come naturally to me for my poems , comes from the type of poems that I originally fell in love with as a child.
From the time that I was very young , my father would recite poetry to as he would stand at the sink shaving . With me attentively watching and listening, he would very animatedly recite his favorites. One of those was "When Malindy Sings " by Paul Laurence Dunbar.  As I got older we would recite that poem in sort of duet, almost like a song. Those are still cherished memories for me and have left a strong influence and imprint on my style of reading and writing poetry.

It is very sad to me that the "Modern Poetry " movement has, in many ways, tried to totally disregard, dismiss and discredit rhyming poems in general in this era, considering that the rhyming poems of the past have been the most remembered, most recited and memorized poems over the past hundreds of years. The rhyming poems have been the ones, for generations that school children have been given to learn. The rhyming poems are the ones that have been so frequently repeated and referred to in acceptance and motivational speeches. The rhyming poems have been the ones that have captivated the hearts of the general poetry lover.

Now, rhyming poems have been labeled by so many in academia as "hobby poetry"....so sad.  Can you actually find a more famous or move beloved poem than Edgar Allan Poe's rhyming poem "Annabelle Lee"?
Are there any more beautiful poems than the many rhyming poems of Emily Dickinson?

Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African-American to gain national eminence as a poet.  Born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio, he was the son of ex-slaves and classmate to Orville Wright of aviation fame.
Although he lived to be only 33 years old, Dunbar was prolific, writing short stories, novels, librettos, plays, songs and essays as well as the poetry for which he became well known. He was popular with black and white readers of his day, and his works are celebrated today by scholars and school children alike.
His style encompassed two distinct voices -- the standard English of the classical poet and the evocative dialect of the turn-of-the-century black community in America.

Paul Laurence Dunbar Web Site :
http://www.dunbarsite.org/

Me and My "Book Babies" Supporting the Troops

I AM SO TOUCHED !!!! MY HEART IS FULL!! I received a Heartwarming message from a NEW Facebook friend :

" I heard a lot of good things from a teacher about your work. I was hoping to ask 

for a copy if you could. I was trying to find where I could get one at but its kinda hard where I am. I am in  Afghanistan. I am from Mooreville, MS born and raised. I would love to read your work some time. I miss my home back in Mississippi, but know I have a duty to the country I love as well. Thank you very much.

I returned his message and told him that I would be HONORED to send him the books ! He KEPT asking about the price and wanting to pay me . I KEPT telling him that he is paying and has paid enough, already !!! All throughout the message, he KEPT calling me ma'am ! 

WHO DOES THIS ... in a Facebook message??!!! 

A young man properly raised in MISSISSIPPI...  THAT'S WHO!!! 

I am SO proud of him...even though he is just a Facebook friend (for now) With tears of pride in my eyes ...I am thinking about this young man faithfully/courageously 

serving our country and my "book babies",  are on their way for the 

6000 plus mile trip to  Afghanistan . 

Thinking of the message that I heard from Maya Angelou on Saturday, I deeply 

hope that through them (my books/poems) , I can be a rainbow in the midst of this 

young man's clouds in a hostile war zone. 

 If you would like to show your support for our US troops,
check out these following web sites:

http://www.anysoldier.com/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/joiningforces

http://www.supportourtroops.org/

 

An (Enchanted) Evening With Maya

On Saturday August 25, 2012, I traveled to Memphis with a dear friend to attend a function there.   The function was called Maya in Memphis . By attending this event, I would be checking off a big "bucket list " item. A bucket list is a list of things  that you would like to do before you die.  Included on that list ,for me, are seeing  the Great Pyramids of Giza,  the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Taj Mahal in India .
Also on that list was seeing/meeting The Great Dr. Maya Angelou in person !! 
On Saturday evening I was well on my way to checking off that item!

On the way to the speaking engagement to see Dr Angelou, I looked up at the sky and saw the most dazzling rainbow! 
I pointed to it and exclaimed excitedly to my friend...

"LOOK at that Rainbow!!!!"

It was HUGE and very bright .It was one like I had not seen in many years. 
We both stared in amazement !  Two grown women were totally in awe of this  wonder of nature  !! My friend said, “I wonder if they can see that in Tupelo.”?
As large as it was, I was sure, in my mind. that they could !

Little did I know that the theme of Maya's talk was to be Rainbow in the Clouds!   She even sang to us !! She sang the lines of an old spiritual hymn...

"When it looked like the sun wouldn't shine no more..........
God put a rainbow in the clouds..".

Maya shared, very intimately and humorously with us highlights of her incredible story and life journey.  She told us about people who had loved 
her, cared for her, encouraged her, helped her and positively affected her life along the way. She called those people rainbows. 
She encouraged each of us to be rainbows !  
Maya 's story deeply touched me, changed me,  empowered me and 
inspired me!

I am DETERMINED to be a rainbow for SOMEONE...
for ANYONE...and for  EVERYONE that I can.

I am going to be a bright shining rainbow in the clouds.

I didn't get to take a picture with Maya, or get her autograph, or present her with my books as I had often dreamed.... 
but the evening was all that I could have hoped for.  
It was more than enough!
Thank You, Dr. Angelou!
I am forever changed!

God Puts Rainbows in my Clouds  ~  
Dr. Maya Angelou SINGING.......