In “Lost in America,” life is a journey “with no clear destination.” The best part of the journey is love, an antidote to “beer drunk days, broken nights,” and “friends who seemed like forever,” an antidote to “no good answers” and “lies held dear.” How It Went To Pieces is a response to the lack of…
Tag: Book Promotion
“Three Poems from Higher” by Robert Stewart
TASKS DONE AND UNDONE I pass death with the dying and birth with the new-wash’d babe,and am not contain’d between my hat and boots.—Whitman Better today if I had gone home to workon the wooden gate, which is coming apart,but the robin has hatched her broodon the downspout nearby and stares at meif I get close or…
“Summer Eden” by Dawn Pisturino
O, would the gaiety of summer last forever,I would lie content in the summer sun,Lazing away the hours in pleasant dreams,Drifting, ever drifting, into nothingness;And I would not weep for lost tomorrowsOr mourn the passing of yesterdays,For blue skies are forever,Timeless, changeless,infinite;And I would not weep for the passing of love,For love is a flighty thing,Lofty…
“He Walks Away” by Robbie Cheadle
From the first dayhe took a tentative stepon uncertain chubby legsattached to adventurous feethe moved away from herembracing with enthusiasmthe mysterious outside world She watched over him tenderlyas he learned about lifediscovered the joy of friendshipand the heartbreak of lossembarked on his academic journeyexploiting his strengths andovercoming his weaknessesand during all this timemom was always enoughher…
“A Grafted Tree, A Memoir of Adoption, Disability, Identity, and Family: A Review” by Selma Martin
The mark of a truly great book is whenever I’m done reading it, I continue to think about it. In the case of this book, A Grafted Tree: A Memoir of Adoption, Disability, Identity, and Family by Kathleen Tumminello—emotive prose, heart-achingly selfless, warm, and vivid representation of adoptive parents with huge hearts who, like any parent,…
“Review of Maggie Watson’s ‘Ephemeral Encounters (Her Book of Words)’” by Melissa Lemay
Ephemeral Encounters (Her Book of Words) is a themed poetry book, written about the life of love. It is especially relative to unrequited love and loving people who are emotionally unavailable for whatever reasons. Maggie certainly has her own distinct voice. It is gentle and steady. Though the poems surround a singular topic, Maggie does a great…
“The World Stands on Its Head: A Review of John Grey’s Between Two Fires” by Peter Mladinic
What it means to live between two fires is conveyed in a person’s vitality. The vital signs of youth are clear in “A Boy At The Wake,” in “the moaning, the tears, the low conversations that broke out here and there,” in things that distinguish the boy from “the man in the box up front”…
“Good Mourning! A Review of Mark Hofmann’s Comedic Book on Death and Dying” by Barbara Leonhard
Ever since I survived nearly dying from measles encephalitis at the age of seven, I’ve been obsessed with death. I recall at age 8 or 9 starting to read obituaries and news stories about tragic deaths, especially of people my age. I didn’t know how to inquire about the process of dying, the preparation of…
“Reverence and Other Towns: A Review of Jeff Weddle’s Driving the Lost Highway” by Peter Mladinic
Driving the lost highway, the poet stops here and there, finds humanity, and shapes it into words. A humanity borne of lived lives. In one poem he says, “Truth lies in things we touch”. Along the highway, the mundane coexists with the exotic and the familiar with the strange. Around a curve, the unexpected. The…
“Interview with Colin Gee: ‘The Penult’” by Nolcha Fox
To order: https://www.amazon.com/Penult-Stories-novellas-Colin-Gee/dp/B0CK1D5JFL/ 358 pages Publisher: Leftover Books ISBN-13: 979-8985107050 Colin Gee (@ColinMGee, he/him) is the founder and editor of The Gorko Gazette (@GorkoThe), teacher and writer. Originally from Wisconsin, he has been in Mexico since he got there. *** NF: Why did you decide to put this collection together? CG: Patrick Trotti at LEFTOVER Books wanted to…
“Overdose January 2, 2023” by Sharon SingingMoon
he left us drowningswimming in a raging seahis love a needle foil wrapped pills – unknownorigin – or a bottlestolen from Breaktime a year or two or more – no contactthen desperate calls“send a ticket- bus or planeit’s raining, coldin Californiamiss seeing you at ChristmasI’m tiredin jail in Indianain Tennesseein Missouribail me outI got beat…
“First Banana” by Laurie Kuntz
”The First Banana” is from Laurie Kuntz’ new poetry book That Infinite Roar When all waxing ounces of your premature weight reached 5 pounds, you were allowed first solids—we fed you a banana, and you growled like an animal in waiting. The mushy pulp around your feathered mouth, muscles barely ready to chew swallowed the…
“A Review of ‘Fusion: Poems of Life’ by Balroop Singh” by Barbara Leonhard
“Fusion: Poems of Life” by Balroop Singh is not simply a poetry collection about seeking inner harmony and connection to others; it’s the heroine’s journey to prevail during these challenging times. The first section of the book, “Harmonies”, displays child-like wonders in primary colors. Fairies, butterflies, and “starry delights”. The heroine is in her infancy…
“Haunted Halloween Holiday” by Robbie and Michael Cheadle
October is a good month to promote this book for young readers. Here is a selection from Haunted Halloween Holiday by Robbie and Michael Cheadle. It’s a limerick from the book about one of the characters, Baby Howler. Book Blurb….. Award-winning, bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published thirteen children’s book and three poetry books. Her work has…
“A Review of ‘Locker’ by Michelle Ayon Navajas” by Barbara Leonhard
Michelle Ayon Navajas’ latest book, “Locker”, demonstrates her range as a poet and fiction writer. The book consists of 57 well-crafted, poetic flash fiction pieces that comprise a love story. The title, “Locker”, she writes, represents not only the space she and her loved one shared at school but also “the realization of another unlocked…
“Too Late to Turn Back” by Walter Bargen
One of the Treasured Contributors to MasticadoresUSA, Walter Bargen, has a new book out, Too Late to Turn Back (Singing Bone Press, South Carolina, 2023). It’s available on Amazon. The book cover, our featured image, promises powerful poems which may prove scary, dark, and apocalyptic to one’s soul. The faint-hearted must know that Bargen takes the…
“‘In The Shadow of Rainbows: A Collection of Songs of Presence’ – A Review by Barbara Leonhard”
Selma Martin’s debut poetry collection transmutes misery into mesmerizing beauty. Not only is each poem masterful in form, but it is lined with spiritual truth much like a golden-lined cloud shimmering in the brilliance of a rainbow after a storm. How do we recognize the brilliance? From the shafts of darkness. We cannot have one…
MasticadoresUsa // Editor: Barbara Leonhard // 