Poetry Monday: Free Emerald

It's almost Mother's Day (or Mothering Sunday if you're in the UK). Here in Australia, Mother's Day is Sunday the 13th of May. Since I'm both mother and daughter, I thought it appropriate that, for Poetry Monday this week, I provided my readers (yes, you) with a poetry gift suitable for any mother on your list.  From now through to May 14th (US time) you can grab a copy of She Wore Emerald Then from Smashwords for the smashing price of $0.00.  Just use Coupon code KT98C at checkout.  You can even use the code to 'gift' the book to someone. Following is a new review of Emerald by the great L.B. Sedlacek, published in this month's Poetry Markets Ezine. If you prefer a hard copy, you can get a copy at Amazon.  Happy Mother's Day to all you fantabulous mothers out there.


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This poetry book is split into two sections: "The Genetic Code" (Ball) and "Dandelions in Autumn" (Howard-Johnson) with each section title page perfectly accompanied by one of Lattanzio's pictures.

In "Coil of Life," Ball punctuates her "The Genetic Code" section with a jolting look at creation. "Take a single cell/tinier than the tip of a pencil/in its nucleus the DNA blueprint/six billion pairs of nucleotides." The poem continues further on with "Binary fission/mitosis and cytokinesis/the cervix thins and dilates/the dreaming and waking cerebral cortex/already perfect signals uterine contractions/the Big Bang." Each poem weaves vivid layers (somewhat of a verbal voltage) of life and existence. From "The Fading": "eyelids closed tightly
against life/you create your own shadow/the steel bars/of your deviant past/shatter the illusion of freedom." Ball writes with a punch -- you won't fast forget her words.

The "Dandelions in Autumn" section (Howard-Johnson) is more focused on the later years of motherhood and/or mothers themselves. In "Mother and Daughter, The Thing I Learned from Depends and Other Events," Howard-Johnson's poem deals with a daughter taking care of an elderly mother "... she cannot find/her words or the beans/on her plate. Now merely a leafhusk,/I cannot find the strength/to place her head upon a pillow./I pre-order stew with chunks/chopped to the size of peas."  Each poem seems to pull from days gone by capturing a daughter's journey from child to caretaker of one's mother. The visuals - "offers us her favorite dish, whipped/cream, crusted Heath bars, melted/Marshmallows (without the rum Mother/would have added)" from "Across the Hall from Mother" - are stunning and leverage accordingly within each line.

Lattanzio's pictures add a blast of scenic flavor to the book. They are chosen and placed at just the right spots.

She Wore Emerald Then is a tribute to mothers everywhere.
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L.B. Sedlacek's poems have most recently appeared in "Ginosko," "Pure Francis," and "Testing the Waters" poetry anthology.  L.B.'s latest chapbook is "I Am My Neighborhood Watch."
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