Every Day is a Gift Day for Mother

She Wore Emerald Then
Subtitle: Reflections on Mothers and Motherhood

By Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Part of The Celebration Series
Published by The Compulsive Reader
Poetry Chapbook
Available on Amazon
Available as e-book: $2.99

Reviewed by Robert Medak

 

She Wore Emerald Then is a collection of poems by Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson.  

The free verse (Written without rhyme or conventional patterns of poetry) poetry in She Wore Emerald Then is well written and entertaining for readers of any age, not just poetry readers that celebrates Mothers and Motherhood.

She Wore Emerald Then is a book that everyone should read and experience the writing and what the poems say to them. Poetry is about evoking emotion, not written to attempt understanding what was in the author’s mind at the time of penning.

She Wore Emerald Then is a recommended reading and awarded five out of five stars.

Purchase a copy of She Wore Emerald Then and enjoy a celebration Mothers and Motherhood from two gifted writers.

 

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Robert Medak
Freelance Writer/Editor/Blogger/Proofreader/Reviewer/Marketer
http://www.authorsden.com/robertmedak
http://rjmedak.wordpress.com
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http://xeeme.com/RobertMedak

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

A Gift for Mother and Other Women In Your Life

She Wore Emerald Then
Subtitle: Reflections on Motherhood
By Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Photography by May Lattanzio
Number one in the Celebration Series of chapbooks
Author's Web site: www.howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm
Amazon Link: www.budurl.com/motherchapbook
ISBN: 978-1438263793
Also available for Kindle


Reviewed originally for Amazon by Zoe Potok, Czech Republic

REVIEW

She Wore Emerald Then

I read this collection of thirty poems slowly, allowing myself only a few at a time usually before I went to bed. The poems deserve such an approach, they need to settle in the mind and soul, to be savoured like a good wine.

The description (on the Amazon.com site only) says "Moods of Motherhood" but it is more than that. At its heart it is about a grown-up child reflecting on the elderly and dying mother and on earlier days when the mother was the strong adult and other. Maybe it is because I am at that stage of life (with a grown-up son and a frail mother) that the poems meant so much to me. The description also suggests that it would make the ideal Mother's Day gift, I'm not so sure about that, I certainly wouldn't give it to my mother, too close to home.

The two poets come at the subject from different points: Magdalena Ball talks about the cosmos before focusing in on the personal with her late poems, Carolyn Howard-Johnson starts with and continues with the personal. And it is the personal that catches the reader in the throat:

We all forget names, I say as numb

moves from hand to heart

because it is my name she has forgotten.

~More on the reviewer: Zoe Brooks (Potok) is a poet and writer. She is the author of Fool’s Paradise a long poem for voices http://www.amazon.com/Fools-Paradise-ebook/dp/B0087EB5KA/

She blogs at http://zoebrooks.blogspot.com/

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Inexpensive Love Gift For Moms in Your Life?

By

Cherished PulseSubtitle: Unconventional Love Poetry
Authors: Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball
Genre: Poetry/Love
Author's Web site: www.howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm
Available on Amazon as paperback or for Kindle www.budurl.com/CherishedPulse

Reviewed by Mark Logie (London), originally for Amazon

 

Magdalena Ball's poems in this collection display a considerable interest in, and enthusiasm for, nature, both on this planet and in space. This is appropriate for "unconventional love poetry" as love for someone else often makes them seem to be everything (ie, the universe); it is also not what we expect since, on the face of it, love has no connection with outer space or the natural world on earth. This particularly appeals to me.

The awe in which we hold the cosmos together with its beauty and loneliness also make it ideal for poems about love. For instance, "Galactic Collision", one of my favourites, is about the virtually catastrophic fusing of two people in love with each other. The comparison of a human heart to a black hole is amazing, bold and apt: after all, a black hole is so powerful that nothing -- not even light -- can escape it. And true, deep love, draws us in and won't let go. She then goes on to underline this by going to the other end of the scale: light ("black hole/ expanded into a cartwheel blaze"). Love it.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, on the other hand, explores the inner recesses of the human world: the heart, the mind and the home, neatly complementing and counterpointing Ball's macroscopic world-view (or should that be "universe-view"?). As they say, "Home is where the heart is".

Howard-Johnson's skill is in choosing original settings for poems that address different sentiments from the expected. It is also evident in her relaxed style, which cuts to the emotional crux of her works in a simple yet elegant way and embraces the real issues rather than the simplistic pseudo-sentiments of most commercial greetings cards. For example, the bittersweet "Dreaming Lilacs", primes the reader to expect a poem about intoxicating, fulfilled love through its vivid evocation of place and utilisation of all the reader's senses ("It's you who had me dreaming lilacs,/ breathing April's sweetest tears, tasting sugared lemon rinds,"), then reveals that it is really about expired or unrequited love ("... As if you/ were with me,/ as if you loved me."). Brilliant.

All in all, a superb collection: different yet not totally unfamiliar.

Roll on the next collection!

~Mark Logie is an award-winning poet & short-story writer;. He is the author
of "On the Road to Infinity" & "You Have No Power Over Me"

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :