Thank You, Anna Celeste Burke!
This is why I love writers so much! They support and sustain each other, learn from each other, offer advice to each other, and sometimes, when you are very lucky, write reviews that sound like this one, which Celeste posted on amazon for my little chapbook, Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love. How wonderful to read this and imagine my words inspiring such a response. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Celeste. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your posting this. I’m ridiculously happy, and I’m going to share your the entire review so my followers can see why:
“Summer is magic! If you want another way to experience a bit of that magic I invite you to read Marcia Meara’s recently released book of poetry, Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love. It’s a perfect read for a languid summer’s day or a long weekend like this one. Taking a breather from grilling and eating, reading the book is like dangling your toes in a cool, rippling brook. It’s not just her poems that reflect the childhood joy of plunging into cool green waters from a “Rope Swing,” or the ‘drip-drip’ of “Showers” on a rainy day that will give you that creekside, summer experience. “Summer Magic” the first poem, and the one that gives the book its title, is awash in words that conjure summer. My favorite lines from the poem:
There! A thin curve of molten red!
A far away sliver of fiery light
Breaks the horizon.
Part One of the book, “Mac at 10,” contains poems celebrating summer from the vantage point of MacKenzie Cole, lead character in Marcia Meara’s wonderful book, Wake-Robin Ridge. As you can imagine, from the glimpse of her poetry provided here, setting matters. In both Wake-Robin Ridge and her new book, Swamp Ghosts, she brings her poetic bent to bear on her story telling.
My favorite of the poems in this part of the book is “Star-Gazing.” Even though I’m still a little annoyed that my late-night effort to catch a meteor-shower this week was such a bust! The “Giraffes” meteor shower was slated to rival Perseid, the meteor shower featured in Marcia’s poem that occurs each August. Perseid has no rival, trust me. Still, star-gazing was a favorite teenage pastime and this poem evoked fond memories of times in my life when I was privileged to witness sky-borne wonders.
Part two of Summer Magic, “Poems of Life and Love,” presents more adult-themed visions of summer. Especially poignant are images of summer waning, as we are dragged, sometimes kicking and screaming into fall, and other seasons of our lives. I love the meter of the first poem in part two, “On the River,” the moody tone of “The Last Rose,” and the wanton disregard for structure in “Attitude Really is Everything.” So true, btw! Here’s to Summer Magic, in Marcia Meara’s book, or wherever we may find it.”
You can find Anna Celeste Burke’s books on amazon:
Bookin' It 