Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Fully Into Ashes
Sofia M. Starnes

Wings Press
April 2011/ ISBN 978-0-916727-70-3
Poetry
Amazon

Reviewed by Laura Hinds

 

Sofia M. Starnes has previously published three poetry books - - all of which were well received and reviewed. She is an editor as well as a poet, and her works have won several awards. Fully into Ashes is presented in three sections: 1 - First House: Find, 2 - Leaving Pompeii: Ache and 3 - The Moonlight House: Gift. The poems are haunting and mystical, and I found that certain phrases embedded themselves in my brain and popped up frequently, as if demanding further exploration towards understanding their meanings.

I particularly liked “Lola’s Window,” with phrasing that brought pictures into my imagination with a bright vividness. “The call to make-believe, later forbidden, a liturgy of ghosts—Every night she settled near the window.. Immediately, I was imagining ghosts outside the window, and I must add that the particular way in which the poems are structured brings more meaning than I could convey here without showing you an entire poem, so I am opting just to share a line or two.

The poems come across as honest, touching, and most definitely spiritual. The poet sees things with her own special vision and manages to translate that vision into words that poetry readers will savor.

Another selection I found enchanting was “Nightlife,” “The moon dissolves to mist and flower; the window balances the outside dark against a single lamp.” Again, a window is mentioned.

I‘ve concluded that the author shares fully a window into her innermost thoughts and indeed, into her soul. I enjoyed each poem as if it was its own living, breathing entity, and the collection as a whole is inspirational. I recommend the book to poetry lovers with a decidedly spiritual (not necessarily religious) bent, and to those who wish to revel in the beauty of this talented poet’s words.

 

Reviewer Laura Hinds is the author of 2009's "Are You Gonna Eat That Banana?"
Reviewed 2011
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