Poetry

Can we find within ourselves the ability to achieve serenity?Serenity, I'm told, is the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled. But how do we accept the things we cannot change, muster the courage to change the things we can, and gain the wisdom to know the difference?Join Melanie on her tumultuous journey from chaos and destruction, navigating the highs and lows, hitting rock bottom, and striving to find that elusive state of serenity. Some will stay by her side, while others will leave, each playing a role in the boundaries set and the solutions, if any, discovered. Who will offer help, and who will bring pain and sadness as Melanie traverses these challenging times, places, and seasons?Will she learn to accept and let go? Will she find the courage needed? Will she be wise enough to make the right choices? Ultimately, who really wins - the person holding on or the one letting go?

This poetry collection, like a cerebral train, travels through the varied landscapes of my thoughts, opinions, and life experiences. Words collide with syllables, erupting into vivid imagery that reaches the far recesses of the imagination. These poems are my literary children: sometimes impulsive, but always carrying a message. I hope this collection touches you like the warmth of the sun's rays on a somber October afternoon.

This expansive collection features Ecila Mai's observations on existence distilled into emotive works of poetry, prose and haiku. Drawing from diverse life experiences and poignant personal memories, these thoughtful writings invite self-reflection on both the trials and triumphs woven into the human experience.As she delves into her rich interior landscape, Ecila's raw ruminations examine the people, places and pivotal moments that collectively shaped her perspective. By confronting the fraught, the fanciful and even the mundane, her flowing verses illuminate the ebb and flow of life in all its dynamic complexity.Ecila offers this diverse array of poetic pieces in hopes they will resonate with readers' own winding paths, sparking intimate considerations about personal progression versus stagnation. Through contemplative language and keen emotional insights, Poetic Reflections serves as a stirring reminder that we each possess the power to transform our futures as we see fit - no matter the perils of the past.

These poems are inspired by David Lythgoe's world-wide travels, the natural world, our place in the universe, and a (still) developing love of being alive. The poems follow a sequence in which each poem has a connection, sometimes tenuous, with those immediately before and behind. Consequently, you may find here juxtapositions where pathos is followed by unexpected joy, spirituality is intertwined with humour and mundane life engages with the cosmos.David Lythgoe will certainly invite you to look again at nature in Beside Another Sea, his fourth book of poetry."I like the way it evokes the past ... and yet connects with the present ... at the same time containing an element of lightness - even of joking - which is entertaining to the reader."Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate emeritus"David has won awards for his writing and ... he unearths feelings as much as facts ... his background enables him to merge a travelogue with classical literary, and scientific linguistic devices. In short this collection is a selection of gems to hold, to treasure and to reflect upon. The cliché would be to say, 'enjoy'. This you will do, but expect also to be moved, perhaps to weep, to sigh, to laugh but, above all, to be grateful for such gifts, skill and insight that have been shared."Revd. Dr Andrew Pratt

A new collection of poetry that inhabits the space where emotion, memory, and intellect combine to illuminate the many strands of human experience.

On a dark night, I found myself walking along a garden path. I gazed up at the sky, and saw the moon sharing light with everything beneath it. It had a gentle spirit, selfless, and kind. A shooting star made its way to earth, mesmerizing as it fell faster and faster. It had a rare spirit, hard to read, but breathtaking to view. A rose in the garden, petals in full bloom, showed its subtle nature. It had a conflicted spirit, unsure of whether to follow its dreams or pick the easiest path. The rose, the star, and the moon all lit a fire inside me and took my breath away, but a voice inside me told me I could pick just one to love. Which one added more fuel to the flame? Which one caused me to clutch my chest because there was no more breath inside me? Yet how can you choose which one you love best when all are equally beautiful, and all will bring you the same amount of pain?

Something good isn't always good. Something bad isn't always bad.Good thing then isn't always good now. Bad thing now isn't always bad later.Something good for you isn't always good for me.Something bad for me isn't always bad for someone else.A good choice isn't always the best,A bad choice isn't always that bad.And sometimes it's better to make bad choices than only good ones.Some bad choices are detrimental, but even that isn't the end.Some reach their destination sooner than others.The destination is when you are no longer dreaming,When you've achieved and accomplished,And when you are good, you're left with this question: 'Was this the best?'I stop trying to reach the destination.I made some bad choices.I made some good choices.I lost some things.I gained some things.And then I pause, and think,'It wasn't that bad after all.'- Shiona Lee

A collection of poetry from the Second World War, published in association with Imperial War Museums.

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) made his name in the last quarter of the Victorian era in a remarkable number of literary and intellectual fields. This is the first annotated edition of Lang's poems, bringing together his books of verse and over 150 additional poems, many of them collected for the first time.

Bringing together the works of 19th and 20th century writers Henry David Thoreau and Anna Shepherd, the book discovers a common approach of poetic forms of writing that enact kinds of poetic environmental activism, and in doing so, re-position them in the context of current environmental crises.

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice“A comprehensive biography of . . . one of the most acclaimed poets of her generation and a face of American feminism.”—New York TimesA major American writer, thinker, and activist, Adrienne Rich (1929–2012) transformed herself from a traditional, Radcliffe-educated lyric poet and married mother of three sons into a path-breaking lesbian-feminist author of forceful, uncompromising prose as well as poetry. In doing so, she emerged as an architect and exemplar of the feminist movement, breaking ranks to denounce the male-dominated literary establishment and paving the way for women writers to take their places in the cultural mainstream. Drawing on a wealth of unpublished materials, including Rich’s correspondence and in-depth interviews with many people who knew her, Hilary Holladay provides a vividly detailed, full-dimensional portrait of a woman whose work and life continue to challenge and inspire new generations.

Continuing the epic of the hectored outlaw in the absurd landscape of the afterlife, Jesse James in Hell follows him through the American West searching for a lost treasure in the company of a bitter automaton, a mysterious violinist, the dead founder of a fraternal lodge who has been turned into a cat, and his sarcastic brother Frank. Other characters include Amelia and her baby, the buffoon Joey Turner, and a tribe of insane volunteer firemen. The massacre finale, based on a true story, will keep any reader at the edge of his or her seat consulting the dictionary.

The Black River: Death Poems is an anthology of poems for people who are grieving and for use in death rituals.

Spalding reveals and explores the intimate relationship between the course of Stevie Smith's life and the evolution of her art, into which she assimilated not simply the events and emotions of her private life, but the influences on her imagination of her wide and varied reading.