Catalog

“The first full-length collection by Joanne Lehman takes us into the nooks and founts of her imagination and memory where rural family members “kept their distance” and their wits and teach her the balanced nature of life deeply lived on “this  side of the river,” where, for “every seven sours” there are “seven sweets.” The book celebrates both loss and wonder-filled discovery in poems that sustain us all.”

Drawn from the entries from The Press’ first annual Poetry Contest, Quiet Diamonds, 2018 consists of forty-four poems from thirty-three poets. Diane Kendig, professor, poet, and author, says of the collection: “Quiet   Diamonds reminded me that the Greek origin of the word ‘anthology’ meant “a collection of flowers,” because the poems here are as varied as those in a botanical garden, as long-lasting, and bright as diamonds. Breathe and read deeply here.”

Len Herrick, former Poet Laureate of Fresno, writes: “Vanishing Point is a pure delight: each poem is full of grace and wonder about our relationship with the natural world, exploring astonishment and certainty, belief and memory, and damage and repair.” Award-winning poet Corrine Clegg Hales, says: “This is an extraordinary new collection by a poet who has mastered her craft and who speaks of life in this world with precision, grace, and often startling clarity.”

James is an award-winning poet and a Professor of  Literature whose work in this volume demonstrates the kind of art and craft that prompted the following remarks from American Poet Laureate Billy Collins: “James Scruton likes to stand on an observable fact and then reach for something beyond: a bit of science is often all he needs to launch these poems into their appealing orbits. Poet Dick Allen calls Scruton’s work, “meticulously crafted poems…over and over, ordinary things…are transformed.”

“Onachila’s work pulls the reader through a gamut of emotions, carefully weaving vivid imagery that paints pictures that either elicit tears or laughter. I am particularly drawn to Onachila’s uncanny ability to present pieces as memories that evoke not only past sentiments, but unfold as relevant even today. Simultaneously, Onachila is effortlessly cunning in connecting the reader to the “human condition” using subtle humor, often ending with a little.”

Leslie P. Borhaug, multi-genre author

These are poems that bring our eye and mind close to the beauty of nature in both its finest detail and in its grandeur. In “The Ocotillo Forest,” he writes: “The Ocotillo forest bides its time. It combs the lean light of dawn and dusk/choosing only the finest threads, thin as a melody line, upon which to weave its desert song.” This is an exquisite gallery from Mr. Onachila’s very capable pen.

“These contemplative poems are simple in construct and profound in impact as the poet’s world is tempered through eyes of his adult self. The poems grow slowly more philosophical: the dazed fly crawling on a window pane becomes a metaphor for his father, a caged bird a metaphor for the writer. You will nod, you will shake your head, you will smile, and you will return to these poems again.

Ann Howells, Editor of Illya’s Honey

From places and time that go back to the fifties, Joe Cheslock thoughtfully considers his experiences in “poems of Cleveland and other sacred places.” We are, as Cheslock says, very much who and what we are because of  “where we were born, grew up, and worked. These poems explores this ‘ancestry’ of his life in engaging and thought-provoking lines.