Friday, January 17, 2014

CALL OF THE SANDHILL CRANE


The cover of her book Amaranthine
 is an original painting by Cindy Parker.

Amaranthine 
by 

My favorite form of expression has always been poetry. I blame it all on my grandmother's influence; she would always include a poem in her birthday cards or letters. So it's with great pleasure that I review another book of poetry by Cynthia (Cindy) Parker. And while poetry is a personal journey, and each reader interprets the words differently, I know you'll agree, Cindy Parker has a gem in Amaranthine

When I received Cindy's books, the poem Snow Stars made the biggest impression. Today, writing this review it was The Call of The Sandhill Crane. It changes as the day, the hour, and yes, the mood, which is why I find Cindy's poetry so beautiful! I have a shelf full of books of poetry and I find them as inspirational as music if not more so. 

Cindy's words have a rhythm, sometimes a rhyme, but mostly they are words that hit an emotional cord and leave the reader filled with satisfaction on a spiritual level. Thank you Cindy, for your inspirational work and especially for letting me share another of my favorites from Amaranthine!
Yolanda Renee 2014

CALL OF THE SANDHILL CRANE

I wade through the ice gray
stillness and wonder if this
is what artic twilight without
end is like, waiting for them

to return. Waiting
for them to sing their overture,
sweet serenade from heaven
at the edge of dawn. Week pass.

A few scatterings of earth's sole
star opens the eyes of March
heavy with snow. A single, faint,
distinct melody caresses my ears.

I rush to pull up the pane,
quieting again to listen, studying
the death white sky through
dormant branches. The call resounds.

And at last I see my feathered
harbringer of spring flying solitaire,
spirit – filled, at peace.
                   Cindy Parker ©2014

*******



In myth and poetry, the amaranth flower came symbolize everlasting life. It appears in the writings of Keats, Shelley, and Milton's Paradise Lost. The long clusters, noted for their luxuriant red-purple color, were used as a dye by the Hopi people.

Amaranthine is not only the title, but the theme of this collection. A quest. A desire to find, experience, and embrace, the abiding essence of life in all we cherish and hold dear, all in a world of impermanence. For the strength of hope, for strength of soul, may we welcome and hold within, even if only for a time, all the amaranthine petals – and moments – we are given....

********

Amaranthine is Cindy's fourth collection of published poetry and includes both new poems as well as previously published poems from Spectrum, Origins, and Corundum.

Cindy's poetry also appears in the anthology,  Potter's Field, by The Lost Word Writers Group



 For the purchase of Amaranthine, you can reach Cindy at 

 
 

14 comments:

Unknown said...

That cover drew me to this blog. Lovely. I love poetry too and wish I felt more comfortable writing bad poetry in the cloaked privacy of my own journals. Such lovely expression when it's done well (train wreck if it's done like I would, but still...) Thank you for sharing.

Maurice Mitchell said...

What a wonderful poem. It feels as light and peaceful as the theme.

Yolanda Renée said...

I don't think any poetry is bad - it's personal, sometimes confusing because we don't know the back story, lots of times funny, and the very best - inspirational - but never bad.I honestly doubt that you could do anything that anyone would label as bad!

Yolanda Renée said...

Hi Maurice, thanks for stopping by. I picked it because I want spring to be here - right now! LOL

Pat Hatt said...

Great verse indeed and yeah wish frummy winter was long long gone too at my sea

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Lovely poem. Thanks for sharing. It's funny how we complain about how quickly time flies by on the one hand, and on the other, we strain to see promising signs of its passage, and scream, "Come ON, spring!"

Robin said...

I admire people who write poetry. I don't do very well with it.

klahanie said...

This might surprise you, but I'm not a big fan of poetry. Especially if you need to trying and decipher what the heck you just read. However, Cindy's poetry dances with work that are enticing and I appreciate that. As for me, I leave any pawetry to Penny! :)

Have a peaceful weekend, Yolanda.

Gary

Unknown said...

Congrats to Cindy! What a beautiful cover, and a lovely poem! :)

Cindy Parker said...

Reading all of your comments is so encouraging to me! Thank you to each one of you for sharing your thoughts! Call of the Sandhill Crane was written during a very dark winter when I particularly missed those cranes. Yolanda, you rock!!! You're so awesome, and I can't thank you enough for everything you did! Julie, I just want to encourage you. If you have a heart for wanting to write poetry I just want to encourage you to be open to that in the privacy of your journal, and - as a friend has told me many times, and still tells me - "fire the judge!" You will be glad you did and it will open many new doors! Thank you everyone for the compliments on my painting, also. It's called Circle of Light. Never give up on your dreams, no matter how long it seems to take. All my best to each one of you!!!

Nicole said...

Very cool! I've heard sandhills on cold misty mornings, and this is a great way to evoke that feeling. :)

Kelly Steel said...

Congratulations Cindy! Great cover!

Maurice Mitchell said...

We can dream. LOL

Cindy Parker said...

Thank you, everyone, so very much! Amaranthine just went live on Amazon, it's now available for Kindle!!! So very thrilled! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I2G2WIC