Announcing the Publication of "Mud in Magic" by Beverly M. Collins

Moonrise Press is pleased to announce the publication of "Mud in Magic" by Beverly M. Collins, in June 2015.

ISBN  978-0-9963981-0-7 (paperback), $15.00 plus S&H, 96 pages.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/beverly-m-collins/mud-in-magic/paperback/product-22216693.html

ISBN 978-0-9963981-1-4 (e-book, E-Pub format), $8.00
http://www.lulu.com/shop/beverly-m-collins/mud-in-magic/ebook/product-22172374.html


Beverly M. Collins’s "Mud in Magic" is her second poetry book, filled with the wisdom of experience, Her skillful and often aphoristic or narrative poems portray a scene or a character that we could encounter on our streets, in our cafes. The poems are organized into three parts: Thought Bistro (Part I), Tinder Flames (Part II), and Elixir Café (Part III). The beauty and wonder of daily life fill these pages and delight the readers. Beverly M. Collins is fourth in a family of five daughters. Although born in Milford, Delaware, Bev is a Jersey-girl to the bone. She is also a graduate of Taylor Business Institute, a great admirer of Art who carries a deep appreciation and respect for other Artists. As a singer, Collins is a former national finalist for Talent America. As a poet, she is one of three 2012 prize winners for the California State Poetry Society whose works appear in a growing number of publications.

Beverly M. Collins

Beverly M. Collins is fourth in a family of five daughters. Although born in Milford, Delaware, Bev is a Jersey-girl to the bone. She is also a graduate of Taylor Business Institute, a great admirer of Art who carries a deep appreciation and respect for other Artist.

As a singer, Collins is a former national finalist for Talent America. As a poet, she is one of three 2012 prize winners for the California State Poetry Society whose works appear in a growing number of publications. She is the author of Quiet Observations and of Mud in Magic (Moonrise Press, 2015).

At home with her younger family members, she is Auntie Bev. The one who loves to cook, laugh and watch movies, enjoys amusement parks and the peacefulness of a long walk. She loves the sound of great guitar solos and times spent in complete silence where thoughts reign ...

ABOUT "MUD IN MAGIC"

Beverly M. Collins' poetry is much like her: Courageous, wise and imaginative. It is a thunder clap in the middle of Manhattan, a bolt of lightning on a desert island off of Spain. But in the end, it is its power, rhythm and clarity that make it rise to the level of art. Miss it at your own risk.
~ Radomir Vojtech Luza
Poet Laureate of North Hollywood
Pushcart Prize Nominee

Beverly M. Collins writes poetry that is a celebration of woman. She takes everyday experiences however varied and transforms them into a serene acceptance which is emotionally extremely fulfilling. Beverly M. Collins' (her) poems are gems of rare understanding.
~ Mary A. Mann
Author, www.maryanneetamann.com

Beverly M. Collins’s Mud in Magic is her second poetry book, filled with wisdom of experience, wisdom that has grown from a life well lived. Beverly’s skillful and often aphoristic or narrative poems portray a scene or a character that we could encounter on our streets, in our cafes. In these poems, styled as messages and postcards from the Thought Bistro (Part I) and Elixir Café (Part III), there is light and love – the latter, in its many reincarnations, from the affectionate to wistful, to, again, humorous – is also the subject of the central part of the book, Tinder Flames. In vain you would search here for empty fireworks of verbal displays. The beauty and wonder of daily life fills the pages andwill delight the readers.
~ Maja Trochimczyk, Ph.D.
President, Moonrise Press

MUD IN MAGIC

It is to spend time on a funky junction,

overlook the “how” and become

“I don’t know.” It is to wear an early-bird

coat with full feathers when the entire

event is late. It is to find that one has tricked

the trickster, turned the tables on the

bait-and-switcher...and got a free ticket.

It is to take life too serious. Put the squeeze

on what is not right-for-you, feel it sting

the palm of your hand like a bumble bee

on the blind side of an apple...but win the bushel.

Mud in magic can be welcome, as “loud”

at the library, “quiet” at an amusement park,

fun as a root canal one day before the feast.

It can murk up the view of a clear day then dry

quickly. It is the oment a way with words does

not win one a way with other things wanted.

It is to select a fall-from-grace, show that taste

buds are dull or absent from the mouth altogether.

It is to be drunk on foolishness, shame one’s way

up the side of the nearest mountain, then watch

the seeds evolve into practical moves.

Proof in the face, some stumble and win the race

one  foot behind the other; however triumphant 

or tragic. The low-down on high-life appears

that dry desert has hidden moisture

and there are obvious bits of mud in magic.

New Poetry Titles - Beverly Collins and Marlene Hitt!

At Moonrise Press we are working very hard on editing three poetry titles. One of these books will be out before Christmas. Which one? Take your pick... and look back here in a month... We are thankful for so much talent!

BEVERLY M. COLLINS

Beverly M. Collins grew up in Westfield, New Jersey, loves amusement parks, music and traveling. Collins applies lessons she learned from Songwriter Guild of America and the National Association of Record Industry Professionals to her poetry. She is the author of the book, Quiet Observations, and one of the 2012 prize winners for the California State Poetry Society. Her work has appeared in the California Quarterly, Poetry Speaks! Year of Great Poems and Poets Calendar. (Sourcebooks, Inc.). Beverly Collins often attends many readings around town, has worked with "Poets on Site" and has featured at the Cobalt Cafe, The Talking Stick, "Unbuckled" NoHo Poetry. She is a regular at Barnes and Noble Burbank monthly readings, as well as at The VillagePoets of Sunland-Tujunga Monthly poetry Reading Series.


Next

by Beverly M. Collins

From the tip-top of January
to the bottom of every December,
life is a continuum.
May we remember to remember.

There are no platforms on which we
halt. No arrivals at which we are landing.
There is only continuous movement.
Blend motion into all planning.

Next is a good four letter word that dances
on the tongue and illuminates the playgrounds
of our minds. Next can call loudly or soft
and subtle when it chimes.

Within the cold of winter remember next comes
fragrant flowers of spring. Next reminds us
there is no be-all or end-all to anything.

When riding a high tide or if low tide has one
feeling sadness or perplexed, know true muscle
can be found in how well we just say...Next!

MARLENE HITT

Marlene Hitt was the first Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga. She has been a member of the Chupa Rosa Writers of Sunland-Tujunga and the Foothills since its inception in 1985. In addition to poetry chapbooks, anthologies and readings, she has authored a non-fiction book Sunland-Tujunga, from Village to City. She served at the Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga as Museum Director and is now a docent there - every Sunday! Her poetry appeared in anthologies Meditations on Divine Names (2012) and Chopin with Cherries (2010). In addition to her poetry activities, she has served as history writer for the Foothill Leader and the Glendale News Press, the North Valley Reporter, the Voice of the Village newspaper, and the Shadow Hills Property Owners Association newsletter. She co-organizes the Monthly Readings of Village Poets at the Bolton Hall Museum. She has been honored as the Woman of Achievement by the Business and Professional Women's Club. She lives happily ever after with her husband Lloyd and an outdoor cat named Lautrémont.


Though I Have No Name

by Marlene Hitt

I yearn for trees, for the scent of grasses,
for the sounds of the meadow and for summer dust.
The ocean has come up beneath us and the sky
is itself a sea that falls in great drops night and day.
This box home my husband built does not please me,
a woman whose home was clean and dry, a woman
whose home was her reason to be alive.
My husband, Noah, and our children work,
as I do, to keep the animals fed and cared for.
A litter of kittens emerged this morning
and the lioness is full with new life. Her mate
roars with the need to run and posture and strut.
I am discouraged and fear the days ahead
heavy with the threat of starvation and of
never seeing land again. This water!
Forty days and more, not ebbing at all.
My family sits staring, despondent, and it is I
the mother, who must put my own fears
in a safe hiding place, pretend that all will be well.
We will shout for joy if the elephant can be free again
to roam, and the camel, and the birds to build nests.
I wish to spend an hour talking with neighbors
from our small village, of singing on the Sabbath.
Now, in this wet word turned up side down
we all wait. We all wait. We all wait.