by Mary Khazak Grant

(Dedicated to Doug Cullum) 

 
I found inside a bright And glorious winter that Never dies. 
 
So crisp and glowing white 
That it took my breath away, 
All except for the puffs 
Emanating from my nose 
That I chose to stay and live by. 
 
Long ago, in a world away 
Where, dropped by a copter We struggled on to be. 
Two friends were made, 
Stags for company, 
And till now, Forever grateful shall We be. 
 

Mary Khazak Grant, a bit of a polymath, has been an artist and writer from an early age. Now retired, she spent over 16 years as a teacher. Before coming to Rochester, New York in 2009, she spent most of her life in Long Beach, New York. Prior to teaching, she spent twenty years working in the fields of print and publishing. As the owner of a desktop publishing business, she handled design and production. Returning to finish her degree, Mary earned a B.A. in Psychology in 1998 from S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook cum laude, and an M.S. in Education of the Deaf from Adelphi University in 2003, graduating summa cum laude. The author has had poetry published in both Poetry Today Supplement Magazine, and Measures of the Heart, anthology. Her award-winning poetry was recorded on CD by The Poetry Society of America (Poetry.com). As an author, she has self-published 24 copyrighted books to date, in such genres as juvenile picture book, reference, memoir, short stories, and novel. As a creative painter, Mary has had 3 gallery shows recently, and her art pieces are in local private collections.