Reading, Writing, & Arithmetic Club

Dear Sophie, I was deeply moved and enlightened by your latest book. Your vivid and flowing prose brought the story to life, and it was clear that you had poured your heart and soul into your research. Your decision to travel to Israel and walk on those ancient paths was a testament to your dedication to your craft. Your love of this planet is palpable. The implications you have unfurled for understanding the true history of Christianity is enormous. She has been recognized by the forest as one of its ancient guardians, now returned, graced with the quiet yet boundless capacity to heal, to shield the vulnerable, to be the sanctuary amidst the storm. Time itself has bowed to her essence, allowing moments of grace to unfold, where the innocent found refuge and solace in her burgeoning powers; a living testament to nature’s poetic symphony of nurturing and safeguarding its own, through a young woman reborn as a beacon of love and a sentinel of the living tapestry that embraced her.      

And my own body felt more alive than it ever had, as if the woman's long-nailed finger had reached into my chest and kindled the flame in my heart. I could hear every sound around me again, painfully. I swallowed, tasting each particular smell. Human piss. Dirty wool. The sweat of a person about to die. Gummy and blue, like rainwater caught in a stone's cleft. Bird droppings. Balsam perfume.  Galbanum incense. The dense, moist center of yeasty bread. - Sophie Strand, The Madonna Secret 

Alright suckers, here's another one.  A former Poet Laureate of the US named Ted Kooser wrote a book called The Poetry Home Repair Manual.  In it he gives advice, and examples of his and other's poetry.  Here's a one line poem by Joseph Hutchinson.  Kooser points out the poems don't have to be grand in scale, and asks if you could ever look at an artichoke in the same way after reading it. ARTICHOKE O heart weighed down by so many wings That's it.  Here's another with two lines!  Maybe you'll think of it the next time you buy a bottle of Port wine. Sweeter Than Wine Her Port-stained lips suggest a sensuous nature. I wonder the taste of that recycled fruit. That's it! For now.