With a title like that, I just had to take a look at Chazda Albright’s book. Being a fellow poet and artist, the title alone definitely captured my attention. Chazda introduces the book with an explanation about her medium:
At only 76 pages, Dervish by James Mirarchi was a quick read but is a prime example – I’ve pointed out many here at LLBR – of an author embracing self publishing to truly capture his creativity. The book sells itself as a collection of poetry, but actually opens with a brief one act play and ends with a short story, reminding me of the editions of the “Concise Book of Literature” from college English courses, still adorning my bookshelf today because they contain some of my favorite short stories and poetry.
After reading this short collection of poetry by Judy Ann and Christina Eichstedt, I immediately thought the title of the collection, Whispers of Truth, was a bit ironic. None of the poems convey a message that you think would be whispered, but instead are passages that sound like the poets would want to scream at the top of their lungs. They even say so in the book description:
In reading just the back of Richard King’s collection of poetry, one will see that the book was inspired by many things: karma, reincarnation, transmigration, destiny, devotion, vegetarianism, attainment, the human form, love, morality, heaven, hell, the inner regions, justice, the nature of this world, illusion, deception, success, money, the Pendulum, the struggle between this world and the higher worlds and much, much more.
Having used self-publishing to create a chapbook of my own poetry three years ago, I can appreciate any other poet who does the same. Poetry can be very personal, and often goes under appreciated in the publishing world. Many readers will admit they don’t understand poetry. So any poet choosing to put their words out there in front of others, whether it be at an open mic reading at a coffee house or in a small book on Amazon.com, is often revealing a lot about themselves as a person, their emotions, their feelings, their beliefs.
Like many writers, Alex Geana probably keeps a journal. When his Mead black and white notebook isn’t at hand, he grabs a cocktail napkin at the bar and borrows a pen from a waiter to record the thoughts forming in his brain. He says so in the introduction of his anthology called Side Step Me. One poem is even labeled “Poem on a Bar Receipt.” My favorite surface was always using the back of the cardboard beer advertisement tents on the table. Geana says the collection of poems in Side Step Me spans ten years. You’d think he was in his fifties because he mentions a dead mentor in the first sentence of the introduction, and his writing style is extremely adult and somewhat weathered.
Take one look at the cover of Michael Sweet’s book and your interest is perhaps immediately aroused. The title – Nude – one single word that catches a second glance and makes us privately take notice. Its black and white image of skin and shadow laced with a touch of peachy fuzz, like remnants in a cotton candy machine, makes us look closer. That curve, that dimple, that place just out of the six by nine frame…you know the place. It’s poetry, isn’t it? And you’re right.
Sheyenne Sheridan’s book, Simple Rhyming, immediately appealed to me because of my love for poetry. One of my first projects with Lulu was a collection of my own poetry spanning all the way back to grade school. Sheridan’s collection is a nice array of subjects, mostly school related, with rhyming meters that are indeed simple and sing song and would be easy for children to learn.
I was a poet long before I was a novelist or book reviewer. My first self-published book was a pop up book of poetry which was literally assembled by hand in the 4th grade for a young author’s grade school event. In college, I continued to write poetry and fell in love with the words of Frost and Dickinson. Having only recently rekindled my affair with Miss Emily’s words, I was eager to read more verse and from a fresh new voice.
I’ve been a reader, writer, and lover of poetry all my life. Many many years ago, I self-published a pop up book of my poems back in the 6th or 7th grade with some pieces of cardboard and pretty contact paper for a class project. Two years ago I used Lulu to self publish a book of every poem I’d ever written. So, since beginning the LLBR in March, I’ve been on the look out for another inspiring poet. I found one in Kevin King.
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