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Some Demon of the Deep: Hiraeth by Sabina Lungeanu – Book Review
‘Some demon of the deep is stirring in its sleep, bellowing its grief through the thick layers of water that press it down and chain it to the bottom of the sea.’ ~ Sabina Lungeanu, Hiraeth This wonderfully poetic gothic novel starts off with the story of well-hidden madness and all-consuming flames. Only those meant…
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Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell Book Review: And This Gives Life to Thee
But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. William Shakespeare, Sonnet…
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On Writing Poems and Darning Socks: Robert Southey’s Advice to Charlotte Brontë
‘…she rather needs keeping down than bringing forward; and then I think, monsieur—it appears to me that ambition, LITERARY ambition especially, is not a feeling to be cherished in the mind of a woman: would not Mdlle. Henri be much safer and happier if taught to believe that in the quiet discharge of social duties…
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Little Fires Everywhere Book Review: Where’s the Fire?
“Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.” ― Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere Shaker Heights, Ohio, one of America’s first planned communities, is governed by a seemingly utopian…
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Buttons, Books, and a Baby: South of the Buttonwood Tree by Heather Webber
Publication Date: July 21, 2020Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Group ‘It was the kind of day in Buttonwood, Alabama, where trouble slipped into town with the breeze, jarring awake sleepy springtime leaves on the massive oaks and sky-high hickories. It scraped parched dirt, sending dust skittering along the trail like it was running for cover. It whistled…
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On Love, Revolution, and Storytelling: Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
“She sowed in my mind the idea that reality is not only what we see on the surface; it has a magical dimension as well and, if we so desire, it is legitimate to enhance it and color it to make our journey through life less trying.” Isabel Allende, Eva Luna In one of her…
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When We Were Free
We trod the cobbled courts around Karluv Most Played the fiddle in Piazza San Marco Gambled with rain in Gamla Stan Bought books in Berlin Awaited the spring in Amsterdam And then it stopped. In seven days the world ended Packed up in a box Labeled ‘Fragile’ and put away On the highest shelf in the pantry Above…
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Happy People
Happy people don’t write poetry, they say Words and thoughts don’t burden their days © 2020 Erna Grcic
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On a Cloudy Day
The sun appeared out of nowhere and cast its golden breathacross the furniture. It stroked the pillows,ruffled the plant’s rowdy leaves and upset the candle. I blinked a couple of timesand it was goneas if it had never been there before. © 2020 Erna Grcic, Beneath the Surface Comment: We had a sandstorm this morning and…
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The Sea
Close your eyes and listen to the sea As it crashes against the shore Rocking the bones of long-lost ships Grinding mighty rocksInto smithereens © 2020 Erna Grcic, Beneath the Surface Comment: This is the first stanza of the poem ‘The Sea’ from my collection, Beneath the Surface. I play with the water imagery because,…
Myths & Stories 