Jane Yolen
A death is one step
from a mother,
one broken rung
on a ladder,
one black word
from fetchit,
one heel and toe
from a dance.
One divorce
from a child,
one knee bend
from a stone.
One wrong step
up, over,
or off
and you are on
your own.
***
Jane Yolen’s 380th published book is about to come out. She sends out poems to journals on a regular basis and has quite a few in sf/fantasy magazines as well. She is a Grand Master of SFPA (Science Fiction/Fantasy Poets of America), as well as a Grandmaster of SFWA and World Fantasy Assn. She has won the Nebula two times, Mythopoeic Award three times, and been nominated (but never won) for the Hugo several times. Six colleges & universities have given her honorary doctorates for her body of work.