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Overcoming Heartache: Inspiring Poems Tell Harnett Women's Story

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HARNETT COUNTY, N.C. — Janet McCormick Harrington is not a professional poet. She has written down verses over the years and simply tucked them away.

One day, her daughter gathered them and published them. The poems tell a story of overcoming heartache through inspiration.

When Harrington sits with her poetry and her family, all at once, the memories come swinging back.

At our house was a big oak tree where daddy with a rope made a swing for me.

Still, I can go back once in a while to my swing, a song, a dream a smile.

She thinks of her father who was killed in a fire. She lost her young son to cancer.

"Then my mother had Alzheimer's. My brother died real young with a hemorrhage," Harrington said.

There have been so many tragedies, including her own illness, a liver transplant some years ago.

But through grief has come hope.

The book is a collection of poems she has crafted through the years -- unkind years, made easier through inspiration.

"They are works of the human spirit. The book is very inspiration and full of hope. It's just full of hope," said Tori Knight Ferguson of her mother's work.

I see the children when wildflowers bloom or when much laughter fills a room. I see the children when it's time for good night. I smile and remember, then turn out the light.

"I think if you're brought up with good, loving parents, that sets you for your whole life," Harrington said.

Her poems are about life and faith.

Trees stand refreshed, silent as a prayer. The blanket is pulled up to await the newness of dawn.

I will see you in the morning when Jesus comes to stay. I will see you then forever when the mist has rolled away.

Harrington's self-published book of poems, "A Warmer Touch," is available at libraries in Harnett and Lee counties.

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