I’m thrilled to announce that my first collection I lost summer somewhere has just been published and is available at Amazon and through Kelsay Books.
Here are some of the great things my fellow poets have said about it.
“Melancholy, exuberance, nostalgia, fulfillment, contentment, longing – Sarah Russell hits all the spots, and there isn’t one poem where a woman won’t be able to identify in some way. She’s singing all our songs, putting into magical words things we felt so often but never knew how to tell. Deep sadness matched by laughter, gentleness, love and a sense of adventure. It was a privilege being there with her, living what she remembers, identifying with every line.”
Rose Mary Boehm, author of Tangents, From the Ruhr to Somewhere Near Dresden,and Peru Blues
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“Sarah Russell brings us into her world, a world of “dream-filled summer nights,” where “leaves are October butterflies.” Russell’s poems sing the important moments of life. It’s a song that stays in your mind, drawing you back to the poems again and again.”
Nina Bennett, author of Mix Tape and The House of Yearning
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“Sarah Russell’s poems don’t have to crawl under your skin – they’ve always been there. If you haven’t known a suicide, or gone through divorce or cancer, you’ve known the fear. If you’ve never had a love you’d marry twice if you had three lives, you’ve felt the longing. Russell may have lost summer somewhere, but she has found what makes us human.”
Alarie Tennille, author of Waking on the Moon and Running Counterclockwise
Very nice. I am intrigued by this style called Ekphrasis and would like to experiment with it someday. For now I stare at Mona Lisa and ponder…
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You’re not alone. Even Napoleon pondered her. And the preschoolers in Beth’s class as well!
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wow – and i think i have been doing this with my class for years. i always have shown the 4 and 5 year olds a picture of mona lisa without any story behind it. they look at it and tell me a story of what and who they think she/he is. they are amazing tales. after, i tell them what we know about the painting and the artist and share their pieces with each other. they are always wonderful. many of them dictate a variation of the same theme – they say it is a woman who just wants to/needs to go away to this beautiful place they see in the background to have some time alone, for a variety of reasons. next year, i’ll have 3, 4, and 5s all together and i’ll try it again with them. their families are always quite surprised.
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I love that you do that with your class. And trust preschoolers to come up with some tales that would please the old girl as well. Ah, that enigmatic smile…
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Terrific poem, every inch just right.
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Thanks, John.
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Excellent. A peek into the mind. I often find myself wondering what people depicted in art might have been thinking. This was perfect.
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Thanks! It wrote itself, Will. I saw that tight expression, her singular purpose, her formal title, and I knew there undoubtedly was a single transgression that had formed her life.
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Sarah, you’ve told such a rich and complex tale in only 15 lines – amazing.
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Thanks, Robert. My poems always start out about a page long, and then the fun begins…
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Reblogged this on Stevie's Law and commented:
A fine Ekphrastic poem by my friend Sarah Russell
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Thanks so much, Steve!
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