A Web of Connections

Kim T. Griswell

Across the way in the yard of the Hall of Missions,
I encountered six women in long matching dresses
Of red and green and brown,
Lovingly sculpted from earth-rich clay.
Black, brown, yellow, sepia women—
Women with arms raised to unite them in a circle,
Their faces joyful,
Their heads thrown back.

One raises her arms skyward
As if giving thanks for the glory that is life,
That is oak, and maple, and fern,
Rhododendron, azalea, and tiger lily,
The caw of crow,
The flit and squeak of bat,
The plip-plop of rain,
Human voices running past like a river.

As I move closer to the circle of women and peer inside,
I see that the connection goes beyond their outstretched, encircled arms.
Some thrifty spider has woven silken strands,
Increasing the threads between them.
Fine lines, glistening with rain, crisscross and sparkle,
Vibrate in the wind—
A web of connections.

You may not yet realize that your week at Chautauqua
Has been about weaving a web of connections.

You came here an individual writer—
Male, female,
Black, brown, sepia, yellow, white.
Last Saturday at the Opening Banquet,
You may have reached out your right hand to the person beside you
To make your first connection,
And the circle began.

By Sunday evening, both hands may have been clasped by someone
In friendship, or recognition,
Or hope.

As you went to workshops, that secret spider began to spin her web,
Weaving ideas, inspiration, epiphanies.
Oh!
Oh!
This is what it means to write for children.

Now it is Friday, and we are all connected—
Student to student
To teacher
To staff
To this place—Chautauqua—
In a web that glitters and sparkles
And shivers with joy.

The web is stronger than it might seem
As you prepare to leave this place.
Spider thread is stronger than steel.

This web we’ve spun together will be there for you
Long after the week ends,
A net woven to catch you when you fall,
To support you as you struggle to find your own stories,
Your own unique voice.

As you remember the sparkling web of connection
We have woven together,
I hope you will also recall those women—
Standing in a circle,
Arms stretched toward one another,
A spider’s web woven between them—
And I hope you will lift your arms skyward
And give thanks.

I know I will.

—Kim T. Griswell, Closing Remarks,
2005 Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua

Kim is a senior editor for Highlights, Inc. and works with the Highlights Foundation and Boyds Mills Press. She served as the coordinating editor of Highlights for six years and Highlights High Five for a year. Her work in the children’s literature field has spanned the worlds of publishing and teaching, leading her to positions as senior editor of Bookbag magazine, book development manager for The Mailbox Book Company, a university and community college instructor, and a teacher with the Institute of Children’s Literature. She holds master’s degrees in teaching writing and in literature from Humboldt State University. She has taught writing workshops across the country on such topics as Focusing Nonfiction, Mystery Writing, Creating a Sense of Place, Writing for Children’s Magazines, Nature as Muse, and The Hero’s Journey. A prolific writer and committed editor, Kim has published more than two hundred short stories, articles, and columns. Her books include Carnivorous Plants, Nonfiction Reading Practice (Grade 3), and many stories in the four-book series, Short Short Stories for Reading Aloud. In 2008, Kim was awarded a two-month writing residency at the Sitka Center for Arts and Ecology in Oregon. www.kimgriswell.com.