The Poet Speaks

Plantain is honored to showcase the curated portfolio of Ruby Waithe, a poet whose full body of work came to light only after her passing, when family members uncovered a box filled with her writings.

The collection reveals Ruby as a person of quiet grace and profound literary passion, and delves into a spirit in harmony with nature and the depths of human emotion.

Initially tasked with the curation of her 76 poems, we then embarked on designing a tribute that reflects Ruby's legacy and the values she held dear.

The design endeavor was a collaboration with her granddaughter, Teshira, who is an artist, thus ensuring the resulting book was an homage befitting the family’s vision.

Written correspondence with the acclaimed playwright, theatre historian, and professor at Dartmouth College, Errol Gaston Hill.

Ruby’s poetry and these letters were only discovered by her children after she passed.

Dear Ms. Glaisher,

Here is it.

I would suggest "Letter to a Friend" page 33 or "Two Days" page 29, or the first part of "Epilogue" page 30. However, you may make your choice & I hope you find something suitable.

Ruby A.L. Nobie.

A Collaborative Design Process:

Our team began by considering the following questions: What triggers memories of a person who is no longer with you? A colour, perhaps? An image, a scent, a sound, a place, a movement?

With this in mind, we used created detailed photographic scans of one of Ruby’s favourite flowers.

The flower graces Ruby’s cover against a hand painted background made by her granddaughter, Teshira.

The pink flowers on some of the inside pages are scans of fresh flowers picked by Ruby's great-grandson, granddaughter, and son-in-law.

Inserting some of Ruby's handwritten and typewritten pages was deemed important to help capture the emotion in her work.