High Falls The real estate agent wore a fedora, smashed almost flat, a cartoon hat too small for his head. He advertised the quality of his coat with a label sewn near the cuff of one sleeve: 100 percent wool. Beneath it, a shirt stretched so far the buttons barely held; I could have rested my hand on the balloon of his belly. With the windows open, light poured in, a pure yellow Catskill’s light Marc would have loved. We drove from Wallkill, to Bethel, Warwick and Mt Hope. We drove to Kingston, Cottekill, Olive Bridge and Accord. None of…
Author: Mom Egg Review
Circus After the measles stopped scratching my teacher Mrs. Schwartz takes me to the Barnum and Bailey’s Circus She takes Me none of the other girls This is my first circus I am so tired because I couldn’t sleep Mrs. Schwartz drives and sings Frére Jacques and then we both sing Frére Jacques A woman drives next to us and smiles I move close to Mrs. Schwartz I want the woman to think I am Mrs. Schwartz’s daughter When we get there two clowns are smoking cigarettes outside One sees me and squeezes his big red nose Behind…
So I Came From the Sea and Sat Down Pretend I’m a slender whale, an odalisque along the shoreline. Stud one arm with stars. Let your eyes travel the full gleam of my tail. What do you carry? A line-drawing etched on ultramarine? A harmonica playing lilies? Unfurl Jean’s fingers. She offers a stack of wishes. In my palm, I hold a smaller hand. A branch of coral on the lifeline. Tina Barry So I Came From the Sea and Sat Down (after Tina Barry’s poem) 2018 Watercolor and casein on paper 30 5/8 x 37 5/8…
Daylilies If you were here and not resting as I imagine you in the milky light of your hotel room, we’d sit together while the children sleep and choose daylilies for the garden — Crimson Pirate, Fairy Wings, August Pioneer — hoping the flowers open early, so we’ll still be together to see them bloom. Tina Barry Wendy Hollender is a botanical artist, author, and instructor who leads workshops in varied locations. Hollender’s illustrations have been published extensively. She has exhibited in natural history museums and botanical institutes,…
Birth Bed of blood and bone. Him her you us. The great usurper who knit himself from me. Tina Barry Trish Classe Gianakis received her B.F.A. degree from Arizona State University, and her M.F.A. in computer art installation from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Trish’s work has been shown in numerous galleries, including the Broom Street Gallery, NYC. Trish’s graphic arts won the Golden Addy Award for Best Interactive Web Design.
Nocturne Your dreams settle over my sleep. A great smear of red. Bella. Sun singes my fingers when I touch. Onyx eyes and grim pressed lips. A tornado of birds circle. Her throat offers a thousand small wishes. Boots churning dust as the Poles threaten a rearranged world. A nun in white habit makes angels in the snow. Tina Barry I’m Clairvoyant When I Hold a Finger to My Ear I hear your call, brined in salt yet distinct. You challenge me to a…
Review by Lisa M. Hase-Jackson The poetry of Athena Kildegaard’s fifth book, Course, ranges from sparse to ample, vivid to subtle, and somber to lightly humorous. Leaning heavily toward the narrative, the collection’s apparent aim, to lead the reader through the underbrush of emotion inherent in human interaction and interference with the natural world, evolves into a contemplation on the life and death of the speaker’s mother. Interspersed with haiku-inspired observations, and drawing on a river’s course as metaphor, images of life cycles and natural law collude and connect the individual poems which make up this ninety-three page…
Review by Mindy Kronenberg I had become acquainted with L.B. Williams’ work for an earlier review in Mom Egg with her chapbook The Eighth Phrase, and learned how she deftly entwined place, rite of passage, angst, and ecstasy to create imagistic and memorable vignettes. It’s an attractive and curious little tome (a small square booklet of 16 poems with a bright, surrealistic cover) that catches one’s attention and opens into a much larger vista of ideas with each page. Her recent collection, In the Early Morning Calling, also presents as interestingly as it reads: the cover’s color and imagery seem…
Introducing My Real Name is Hanna, by Tara Lynn Masih Inspired by real Holocaust events, this poignant debut novel is a powerful coming-of-age story that will resonate with fans of The Book Thief and Between Shades of Gray. Highly recommended by the Jewish Book Council, it’s sure to be a wonderful addition to your mother/daughter bookclub. A 2018 Skipping Stones Honor Award Book Hanna Slivka is on the cusp of fourteen when Hitler’s army crosses the border into Soviet-occupied Ukraine. Soon, the Gestapo closes in, determined to make the shtetele she lives in “free of Jews.” Until the German occupation, Hanna spent her time exploring Kwasova with…
Review by Ros Howell “They are used to us being afraid of them. Don’t be afraid” (45). Maria Alyokhina was one of three members of the Russian feminist protest punk-rock collective Pussy Riot who were arrested in 2012 after performing their “punk prayer” at the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. At the subsequent trial Alyokhina and her band mate Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were convicted of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and sentenced to two years imprisonment. Media attention was rife and Pussy Riot divided the world – in particular the Russian nation – as…