A Jersey cow saved the life of Kimberly Bolton's grandmother and her children.
After her grandfather took his own life, her grandmother was left with nothing until an insurance man made an important note on his life insurance policy claim.
"(The insurance man) was kind enough to put on the insurance form that his death was an accident, and she got $600. She bought a run-down farmhouse and a Jersey cow," Bolton said of this piece in her family history. "My mom said it was the Jersey cow that saved their lives because it produced milk, butter, cottage cheese. They would have been in pretty poor straits without that cow."
"The Cow" and many other significant stories are outlined through poems that weave together chapters of her grandmother, Corrie May, and grandfather, Harry's, life during the Great Depression and World War II, creating Bolton's first published poetry book, "Folk."
Even though the Centertown native and longtime Jefferson City resident had worked in healthcare for 30 years prior to becoming a circulation clerk at Missouri River Regional Library, Bolton has had a passion for reading and writing. Writing short stories and having four novels published, poetry was a love but truly became a passion after Missouri River Regional Library Director Claudia Cook asked Bolton to take over leading the Poetry Night event at the library every other month.
"I fell in love with it, I love the people. I have learned so much and they have enhanced my life so much just getting together and talking with them," she said. "My love of poetry really elevated after that."
Having written more than 300 poems, Bolton's first was entitled, "Complaints," and was a humorous poem about complaining about people who complain about her. What really inspires Bolton with her poetry is history and the people around her, which is where "Folk" got its start four or five years ago.
"It was born from the fact that I was working on family genealogy. My mother was telling me these little bits and pieces of family stories. My sister and I begged her to write them down. She did and she put them in a journal form," she said. "A few years later, she gave me the journal and said, 'If you ever get a story idea to write about our family, here you go.' 'Folk' was a result of that."
Having written other poems about her maternal grandparents, Corrie May and Harry, she decided to write poems based particularly on her grandmother's experiences during the Great Depression and World War II while living in the once thriving community of Cotton in Cooper County.
"It is told by a gossipy old country woman who is going to a funeral. She is riding with someone and telling bits and pieces of the story of Corrie and Harry, and it is Corrie Mae's funeral that she is going to," she said. "She is telling the reader, who is acting as her driver to the funeral, what happened in those years."
Instead of being a collection of about 20 poems, each piece such as "The Valley in Winter," "Near Death Experience" and "The Cow" were written, chosen and arranged to signify chapters of "Folk." Each shares important moments in this matriarch's life and significant part of Bolton's family tree.
"My mother always said that my grandmother had a very hard life and she did, but those years between the Great Depression and World War II were hard for a lot of people," Bolton said. "In the book, I mention that Corrie May had gumption. She did and so did a lot of other rural women. They had to have gumption to see themselves and their families through the hardships that came their way.
"At the same time, 'Folk' has an element of humor to it that is unique to Missouri rural life."
Making "Folk" a true family affair, Bolton's daughter, Kaitlyn Burrow, helped her put it together and daughter, Jamie Talken, designed its cover, which includes symbolic, important parts of the story such as a rocking chair, rooster, rifle and cow.
Bolton self-published "Folk" at the end of November, seeing buzz already surfacing from colleagues, family (many of who received it as a Christmas present), friends and the community. Also, from fellow authors and guests at a Local Authors Showcase earlier this month at Missouri River Regional Library.
"It was my first time being around other writers. There were all different genres represented - poets, children's authors, fiction writers, nonfiction writers - and I enjoyed talking with everybody. I loved getting their take on their writing experiences, and it was definitely a good experience for me," she said.
Bolton plans to get it on Amazon after the first of the year and it will also be available through Poetry Super Highway, a prestigious poetry website for poets and where Bolton was featured as poet of the week earlier this year for "River Soul."
Bolton is already planning to publish additional works in the near future, including a book of her river poems; a collection of Halloween and witch-related poems shared with an included poem, "Of Trees and Broomsticks"; a novel; and a companion poetry book to "Folk" based on her father's side of the family.
For now, Bolton is excited to share "Folk" with interested readers, hoping they will enjoy reading about Corrie May and Harry.
"I tried to tell it in a way that people could relate to it. It is not everybody's story, but it would sound familiar to them," she said. "I want people to enjoy it."
For more information or to purchase "Folk," contact Bolton at the Missouri River Regional Library at 573-634-2464.