Women can delight in this woman's words
By Karen Gallagher
Books Editor
A recent rash of poetry books has crossed my desk. I took home "Rainstorms & Fairies" by Carol Atkins to take a closer look at what's going on in this genre these days.
If this collection is any indication of the state of poetry, we're in for a bountiful year of verse.
What a Poem Isn't
A poem is not a guided missile
honed by science
into a sleek and steely
heat-seeking
true to target
smart bomb.
A poem is more like a flare
an exuberant rush to burst
into light
hoping someone will see
and knowing that if
a single heart lifts with it
into the dark
it is enough.
"Rainstorms & Fairies" comes alive with interpretive photography by Sharon Lemmer. It's a wonderful entertwining of Atkins' words and Lemmer's images, which are so meshed that I can't imagine one without the other.
Readers will notice in her poetry that Atkins is a feminist with determination and strength, along with high expectations of others. And evidentally she knows what a poem is: Her poetry lifted my heart -- and sped it up a bit, too.
"Rainstorms & Fairies," by Carol Atkins with illustrative photos by Sharon Lemmer, Sharol Books, 72 pages, $25, hardcover