River Ghosts

Freya Pickard reviews River Ghosts by Merril D. Smith

A sumptuous bouquet of expertly crafted poems. From real and imagined memories, to the outer reaches of star strewn space, there is something for everyone here.

I love the evocative words Smith uses to summon up vivid sounds, such as; “a gull’s laugh breaks the silence”, “screaming in silver spray” and “ghosts murmur / a susurration.”

The poet also creates vivid images including; “leaf-scarred souls”, “this dark path between stars” and “charcoal and white / are fringed with a golden glow”.

Each poem is carefully considered and works with the rest to create a cohesive whole that makes for a satisfying read. Ghosts haunt many of the poems, ghosts of memories, regrets and imagination. The river itself winds through the collection, an analogy of time, space and a constant flow of life, death, and life again.

The subject of each poem is easily accessible and if you want to, you can read many meanings into the layers in each piece. Definitely a re-reader!

River Ghosts by Merril D. Smith is available at US Kindle and UK Kindle. More of Merril’s poetry can be found at Yesterday and Today.

Freya Pickard is the Curator of Pure Haiku and also blogs at Dragonscale Clippings. She is not currently open to receiving review requests due to her busy schedule in writing The Kaerling series.

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Freya Pickard, Curator of Pure Haiku

Sharing Our Horizon

Today’s review is about Sharing Our Horizon by Xenia Tran.

Xenia Tran is an artistic photographer and amazing poet; her haiku in particular are incredible! Pure Haiku published one of her haiku on this site back in September 2016!

Xenia was born in The Netherlands and lives with her husband and adopted whippet Misty in the Scottish Highlands. She has two blogs which can be found at Whippet Wisdom and Tranature.

Sharing Our Horizon is a beautiful collection of expertly written haiku from the point of view of her previous two adopted whippets; Eivor and Pearl.

driftwood
when spirit leaves the trees
a loving gift

Xenia’s haiku, haiban, tanka and other forms are reflected in the exquisite photographs she includes with each offering.

lagoon holds
a painting from the sky
in her arms

I love the way she takes you through a year in the Highlands, from hopeful spring, through the brief warmth of summer into the slow decay of autumn and into the bitter, frigid beauty of the fallow months.

bees dazzle
around the purple heather
autumn wind

Her photographs, more often than not, feature one or both of her whippets, but sometimes they simply capture the raw, visceral beauty of Scotland.

winter rings
her wings of ice and snow
around the sun

If you haven’t yet bought this collection, I urge you to do so. You won’t be disappointed!

I’m really sorry but I am unable to accept review requests. I have dozens of books (both prose and poetry) waiting to be read. I also prefer to BUY poetry books so that when I review them on Amazon, my review is Verified.

10-24

a juicy sliced pear,

raspberry jam poured hot, soaks

its smooth velvet pulp

© Claudia Messelodi 2012

Visit Claudia’s website to find out how to buy her collection of poetry at a stream of small stones

Claudia continues her bite sized blog tour at my other site dragonscale clippings Today she is giving away a copy of her poetry collection “Sky-blue Wisteria: A Poetic Journey”.

10-17

a bold moth wings to

the flowery wallpaper

lit by the moon gleam

© Claudia Messelodi 2012

Visit Claudia’s website to find out how to buy her collection of poetry at a stream of small stones

Today Claudia starts her bite sized blog tour at my other site dragonscale clippings Please pop over and find out more about her, how and why she writes… Next week she will be giving away a copy of her poetry collection “Sky-blue Wisteria: A Poetic Journey”.