Laura Stamps Speaks Words Only True Poets Can...

Cats, Daffodils & Dragonflies: 

Mystical Nature Poems 

(1987-2005)

By Laura Stamps

Opening my door every morning allows me to see the beauty of my surroundings on 13 acres of woodland and the site of my cabin...A Pussy Willow Tree sits outside my door, one that I planted almost as soon as I moved in. I've added a bird feeder and enjoy watching the birds be smarter and faster than my cats. The Red Birds enjoy the dry cat food, so, I share that too, while my cats eat on my front porch...

I know you're thinking--so what? What does this have to do with your review of a book...

How Cool! I Coulda Been a Contender?!!!

Laura Stamps writes what I see through my eyes, but cannot put into words! I don't  think I knew what a soulmate was before I read this book, for surely her words complements the images I see as, for instance, that one pussy willow changes during our seasons...If this is not the meaning of soulmate, I don't know what it would be...

And, of course, the primary reason I bought the book was that she loves cats! In fact, her 2005 her poetry book "The Year of the Cat" was nominated for the "Pulitzer Prize." And it's included in this collection. How cool is that?!

Normally, I have found that poetry collections are rather short, but not this one! And the formatting into an ebook is not the greatest just because of the nature of presentation of poetry--actually, I would love to see this book out as a coffee-table creation with photos to match her words...I know many cat lovers and nature lovers like me would have it prominently displayed in our homes...

BEAUTY


I once read that lily means
beauty, like a tiger lily,
like the tiny cat that swam
 through my life, a river of
cream and black, wrapping
the soft ribbons of her paws
around my heart: let us walk
together in beauty. How far
have I come? Can I lift my
wings with the bright green
 wink of a luna moth, a
miracle that I have witnessed
three times in thirty-eight 
years? Can I hear the tales
of goodness and peace
shuffling the dark branches
of the trees? Can I sit in the
corner of an empty room,
my hands lost in the ebony
purse of this kitten's fur,
whispering stories of earth,
pumoth, tiger lily? Let us lift
our wings and soar in
beauty.
~~~

For Laura Stamps is a true literary poet, who has been published worldwide in over 1000 magazines, so you may have already read her! But, you know what I did after I read the last page of the book? I moved it back to the beginning. I plan to use it as a daily reading to brighten my days...

Because that's is just what you find in this book: joy, peace, contentment... Oh sure, there are a few with a sign of being down, but not many...and if you have had just one contact with the author on line, you will know that the feelings are real! Makes you want to have her as your friend...

"...Daily, I plant the eeds of love, kindness, and beauty,
graced with the daffodil's smile. And when the sun rises
each morning, I can hardly wait.

Having this book is just about the next best thing...

Most of her poems take minute pieces of nature, flowers, sky...everything turns into some, yes, mystical place that only she can take us to--are these really the same mundane items we step on,
or stumble across, or look at with unseeing eyes?

Yes, Yes, they are...for I, too, have seen them in a different light since I've moved into my cabin and strolled through acres--finding a trillium (which I had never before seen)...

Still, I don't have the words...

Are you, too, in that place where you need to stop and, as they say, "smell the roses...?"

If so, Laura Stamps has the way to do that, even when you're at work in some office, or taking the subway home from the city...She will pull you out of your present and take you to a place you can only envision...and yet, she does it so easily, that you may think she is there, merely talking to you about her day...but how does she move us? Ahhh, that is the true mystery...

Only a true poet writes this way... 

By the way, I know little about poetry, have never studied it...so I rarely review poetry books, except from people I know or that have acknowledged that my review is never to be construed as a professional...only as someone who sometimes meet a soul mate poet who provides the words I would want to speak, those that are hidden in my heart... Those that she has been given a gift to share with all of us...

Coco with litter...

The Jeweled Chant

of meadowlarks,

mockingbirds,

and blue jays lures the sun from

its ebony cave, and at daybreak,

as that fiery phoenix rises from

the ashes of night to lift its

lemon eyelid, spackling the

sky with light,

Poppy often appears,

crouched in crabgrass or clinging

to the low branches of a tree.

Her tongue craves the ivory peaks

of yogurt almost as much as her

mother, who taps Poppy's head

whenever the kitten attempts to

lap the milky treasure from both

bowls. Each stray has gained

weight after two weeks of regular

meals, and their coats gleam like

the gloss of new leaves. In

the evening Poppy rolls in the grass

beside her father, while he finishes

Stubs (The Stray Father who Found a Home!)

dinner, her plump belly thrashing

back and forth. Has a kitten ever

adored her parents as much as

this one? Watching Poppy, I pray

for her joyous spirit, that it will

always soar like the skylark, the

sapphire lake of her life unclouded

with gray, her days frisky with

grasshoppers and butterflies, her

nights a purring soliloquy of peace.

~~~

Let's face it, you either enjoy poetry or not. Me, I as a reader enjoy some but not all poetry. If you're in the latter category and liked the samples here, check more out online at Amazon or other sites that allow you to read samples...Personally, I loved Stamps' poetry...You may too... Dare I say a must-read for poetry lovers?!

GABixlerReviews

Laura Stamps work has been published in over a thousand magazines, literary journals, and anthologies worldwide. The recipient of a Pulitzer Prize nomination and seven Pushcart Award nominations, she is the author of more than 54 books.

Currently, Laura lives in Columbia, South Carolina, with 9 cats in an antebellum-style house. Beyond her backyard lies a state forest, which just happens to be full of faeries.

Email: laurastamps18@yahoo.c

Reviewed: I Loved My First Aaron Paul Lazar Novel - Healey's Cave!

Image by selva via Flickr

First in the green marbles mystery series!

Healey's Cave

By Aaron Paul Lazar



My sincere thank-you to the author’s wife who proposed that the author write a book from the killer’s point of view...

And a new series was born! Healey’s Cave by Aaron Paul Lazar, who is known for his LeGarde Mystery series, declared he was just minding his own business when his wife spoke...In fact, he laughed!

Now his wife loves psychological thrillers which I do too, so I knew she was on to something...especially since, at that time, I hadn’t read any of Lazar’s books! I had met Aaron at a Facebook Reviewer’s Roundup Author Interview and immediately knew I would like the man...you know, one of those guys that is fun and easy to talk to...so that’s how he wound up as my December Spotlighted Author at Book Reader’s Heaven and I was invited to have a Lazar marathon...hmmm, maybe I even volunteered, not sure now!
Anyway, Healey’s Cave is his latest book, as well as being the first Sam Moore Mystery. I loved it!

Lazar has a style of writing that pulls readers into the lives, as well as the setting of his books; he's a natural as a storyteller. He spends time sharing about nature and talks knowledgeably about the plants, flowers, and, in this case, the caves that you can tell he has explored.

In fact, the “green marble series,” was conceptually created when he found a green marble, a cat’s eye, unearthed while he was rototilling! As with many of us, the marble took him back to childhood and he started to wonder about the little boy or girl who lost it...

And that is how the main character was whisked back in time...

Sam Moore was himself a grandfather when he found the marble. His first thought was whether it might have belonged to his brother who had disappeared 50 years ago. It had been 50 years of longing to know the truth of what had happened to him. Was he dead or alive? Had he fallen and died somewhere, all alone, never to be found, or had he been kidnapped, perhaps raised by somebody else and still alive somewhere. While he had always hoped for the latter, he knew that if at all possible, now after this long, he would have come back to find his family...

Sam was a little worried that he would become entangled in his memories, for now he had retired from his practice and he was used to being active most of his days. So he had turned to the outside to work his time away doing what he loved. Besides, his wife, Rachel, needed him to keep out of her way. She was wheel-chair bound and needed extra rest, but she also needed to continue to maintain her home and do the things she had always managed in the past. Sam owed Rachel his love and her space...

It was Billy’s birthday; he would be 61. Sam silently wished him “Happy Birthday, buddy,” and, for the first time, reached into his pocket and fingered the green marble...

That first visit to the past took him onto his orange school bus...Sam and Billy had just gotten off and were waving at the remaining kids. It didn’t take long before Manfred Healey speeded by in his car, screaming for them to get out of his way...

Sam had been in the past for an hour and a half...when he realized time had gone by; he thought he had fallen asleep...

But it brought back memories even more and he thought about his friends from that time and how Billy, though younger, had always been his best friend and went wherever the others went. And, of course, Healey was hated by all of them. Even now, Sam believed that Healey had taken Billy!

Now, for various reasons, all the players from that year were back in town. And Sam was being taken back to the past, finally realizing that the time travel seemed to be telling him something and that Billy was trying to communicate!

But...things were also happening in the present. Sam’s house had been broken into, for instance, and all of Billy’s toys had been stolen from the attic! Now, they were being used, apparently, to play with Sam’s mind—make him think he was experiencing a breakdown... Nightmares had returned and it seemed that he was learning more and more about what had happened...just not who had been responsible!

Someone murdered little boys, and Sam was now afraid for his grandsons!

Healey's Cave is great start to the green marble series! Sam is a wonderful, older lead character, whose love of family is clearly primary to his life. The touch of the paranormal and time travel just makes a great book more interesting. One of the things I quickly noted is that Lazar’s books can be considered “G” rating...and I’ll cheerfully pass them on to my younger family members to enjoy!

By the way, I’m halfway into the first LeGarde book...All I can say is that, thankfully, I don’t have to choose which I enjoy more! Lazar has already made it to my personal must-read author list! Watch for reviews of more of his books as December continues...You may find that you’ll want to use Lazar’s books as stocking stuffers! What a cool gift for anyone in the family who loves mystery and suspense...and so much more!



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G. A. Bixler