Maria Hummel’s book House And Fire was the winner of the APR/Honickman First Book Prize, 2013. “Station” is a pantoum, a Malay verse form, imitated in French and English, consisting of quotations.

by Maria Hummel

Days you are sick, we get dressed slow, find our hats, and ride the train. We pass a junkyard and the bay, then a dark tunnel, then a dark tunnel.

You lose your hat. I find it. The train sighs open at Burlingame, past dark tons of scrap and water. I carry you down the black steps.

Burlingame is the size of joy: a race past bakeries, gold rings in open black cases. I don’t care who sees my crooked smile

or what erases it, past the bakery, when you tire. We ride the blades again beside the crooked bay. You smile. I hold you like a hole holds light.

We wear our hats and ride the knives. They cannot fix you. They try and try. Tunnel! Into the dark open we go. Days you are sick, we get dressed slow.

Source: Poetry (September 2010)

published on Derek Walcott’s birthday — Jan. 23, 1930.

Love after Love

Derek Walcott

  The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was your self. Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes, peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life.

[Read more Poetry Posts]

Mercy by Rudy Francisco

She asks me to kill the spider. Instead I get the most peaceful weapons I can find.

I take a cup & a napkin I catch the spider put it outside and allow it to walk away.

If i am ever caught in the wrong place at the wrong time just being alive and not bothering anyone

I hope I am greeted with the same kind of mercy.

[Read more Poetry Posts]

Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.

— L.R. Knost.

PLZ SHARE THROUGH SCREENNN

BOOK QUOTE:

“The road is a river of ice, slick and unforgiving. A harsh sweep of white iron, smooth as glass and cold enough to freeze any uncovered inch of flesh to the surface. Hillocks and haystacks rise up, isles in a smoking brume. Here and there snow has blown aside, revealing the line of the great white stone road that slices through the hills.” 

Historical Fiction Book Tour REVIEW

Book Review

by

Mirella Patzer

This book is definitely making quite a stir in the historical fiction community, and after reading it, I can see why. First, it is a gripping tale about a mute named Mear whose son was one of five young boys/men burned in a house fire that was deliberately set. Second, Mear is actually a woman, hiding from her secret past. And third, this is a marvellous whodunnit filled with twists and turns and plenty of medieval brutality.

Beautifully written, the author has weaved a brilliant tale that leaves the reader guessing to the very end chapters. Lovely first person narrative, rich descriptions, and a cast of colorful, unforgettable characters enthralled me from start to finish.

If you like a good mystery set in a fascinating historical era with plenty of heart-wrenching, emotional, and mysterious scenes, then this is one book not to miss. Definitely worth reading. I highly reommend it to everyone! Pick it up and give it a try – you’ll see why everyone is raving about it.

Review from Book Nerd

Wow! I had no idea what I was getting into with this book. Once I started reading it, I was engrossed with the story, the characters, the plot, the writing.  There were so many twists and turns that I was on the edge of my seat.  Mear was a fascinating character, she stayed with me.  She haunted me, my heart broke for her,  the injustices she suffered infuriated me.  She is one of those characters that stays long after the story is over. I loved this book, spent many late nights reading it waiting to figure out what happened to these children. Tremendous story and book!

  Praise for Sinful Folk

In December of 1377, five children are burned in a suspicious house fire. Awash in paranoia and prejudice, the fathers suspect it is the work of Jews and set out to seek justice from the king, loading the charred bodies of their boys onto a cart. Unbeknownst to them, among them is a woman, Mear, who has been hiding out in the town for the past 10 years posing as a mute man. It is a treacherous journey, for their rations are spare and the weather is brutal. And always, they are haunted by the question, Why were their boys in Benedict the weaver’s house, and who would do this to them? Mear, ever resourceful, not only watches for clues to unravel the mystery but also provides invaluable aid in finding their way, for she has traveled this way before and is the only literate one among them. The reason for her false identity is slowly revealed as the villagers are chased by bandits and must overcome numerous obstacles, hunger and fear among them. Brilliantly conceived and beautifully executed, Hayes’ novel is woven through with a deep knowledge of medieval history, all conveyed in mesmerizing prose. At the center of the novel is Mear, a brave and heartbreaking character whose story of triumph over adversity is a joy to read. –Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist *Starred Review*