Excerpt
A Gathering of Poets offers a mlange of creative verse addressed to the discriminating reader. Included within its pages are the works of award-winning poets, of youthful vigor, of quiet voices filled with love and compassion. One can listen to Anne Flythe lament the passing of time and attractiveness in Old Women are Invisible; to Nathaniel Hvizdos cherishing the memories of his grandfather in They called him Crowbar; to Larry Turners Untitled, which seems to reflect the original thrust of this anthology:
Like a quantum wave, my spirit is not trapped within the barrier of my skin. It tunnels out to you and you and you. Even this message may carry it to someone Ill never meet.
In For Stuart, Charlotte Garrett offers a paean to her artist husband for the joy they shared together:
His vision is a landscape, vast, wide. Mine is a portrait of his dear face when his eyes search middle distance for some remembered and longed-for place. As sunlight warms my heart, paints for me a portrait of love for my lover, a dreamer forevermore.
The troubling indecision of religious commitment is overlaid with rye humor in The Trouble With Religion by Joe Metz; Deborah Snyder recounts her fond remembrances of A German Friend; and to a friend who succumbed to death too soon, Norma Redfern dedicates the delicately tender Soft as a Kiss.
Death came for me one night, Not now I say, another time.
Let me make my peace, Let me fix what is not finished,
Give me time To make my peace.
No time is given, His hand held out for me.
Soft as a kiss he touched my hand, Come with me.
To complement their invigorating verse, several contributors have included examples of their personal artwork. Award-winning photographer, Peter Frederick, shares his black-and-white perceptions of the world he sees. Fioreza, his graceful study of a statue in Italy, was the inspiration for Charlotte Garretts lilting poem, Bella Fiorenza.
Originality, sensitivity, poignancy are the trademarks of this anthology. It can be read and reread without losing its imaginative vitality. Its contributors hope that its literary appeal will broaden, bringing other new voices, new vistas, into a gatherings of poets.
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