Happy April 2025! It’s National Poetry Month and the publication month of my time-travel novel for ages 9-12, The Clock and the Boulder. This book, which will be released April 22, 2025, is set in the USA in 2016 and rural Sweden in 1755 and is about finding friendship and one’s own sense of home. You can read more about it here.
In the many years I’ve spent working on this book, sometimes I’ve found it helpful and fun to write poetry as part of that process. Sharing some of that poetry seems perfect for this month.
I love the idea of time travel. Books allow us to travel through both time and space in our imaginations, both as readers and as writers.
The poem I share below does not represent a moment in The Clock and the Boulder, but part of the reality of some of its characters that would impact their lives and certain elements of the story. I enjoyed multiple journeys through time writing it and hope you will when you read it.
Winter Warmth, Sweden, ca. 1700
The earth of the hearth
is the stones—
cooled and crushed from the magma,
much later dug from the ground,
hefted, lifted, arranged,
adhered to form a safe container
and to guide smoke away.
And it is trees
grown in the soil
and fed by the sun,
cut, split, burned,
turned to ash
releasing warmth
to heat food
that fills bellies,
to warm flesh
through the long, cold winter.
The heart of the hearth
is the soul—
familiar family,
welcomed guests
gathered ‘round,
sewing, spinning, weaving
tinkering, mending, repairing
sharing food,
telling stories of the
family, folklore, religion,
singing songs
to lift spirits
through the long, dark winter.
© Karin Fisher-Golton
For more Friday poetry and abundant celebration of National Poetry Month, plus news of his new anthology of rainbow poems (what a topic!), visit Matt Forrest Esenwine’s Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme blog at https://mattforrest.wordpress.com/2025/04/03/poetry-friday-kicking-off-national-poetry-month-with-rainbows-and-a-story-about-lee-bennett-hopkins/.
Karin Fisher-Golton 
Sounds like an intriguing concept, Karin – and I think the poem is a great snapshot of a scene/time to help readers access that!
Thank you, Matt! The poem helped me access the scene/time too.
(I got both posts, so I deleted the repeat.)
Congrats on the book, it sounds GREAT.
Thanks very much!
I enjoyed your poem. Now I’m off to check out more about your book! Congratulations!
That’s great to read. Thank you!
Congratulations on your book, Karin!
Thank you, Rose!
Congratulations, and thanks for the peek into the time period of you book!
Thank you! I found poetry to be such a powerful way to connect with that time and place.
Congratulations on the new book, Karin!
Your poem conjured so many cozy images for me, and I especially love the opening lines of each stanza.
Thanks so much! I particularly love those lines too.
Congratulations on your book! It seems like this is a month of good news for so many Poetry Friday folks… this roundup is an exciting one! I enjoyed seeing a little of your process. I was just talking the other day about ideas for using poetry to help me get unstuck in a prose project, and this just makes me want to try it even more. Happy Poetry Month!
Thank you! I’m glad this encouraged you to try poetry in your prose-writing process. For me, it was a great discovery that I’ve been happy to repeat.
Congratulations on your upcoming book, Karin! How exciting! I love the sweet phrases “the earth of the hearth” and “the heart of the hearth” So much meaning in those two distinct stanzas.
Thank you, Denise! I was so pleased when I noticed those words within the word.