Cranes at Hiwassee Refugee by Ray Zimmerman.
I once said that good writing is subject to the law of supply and demand and supply far outruns demand. That statement has come home to roost with my Substack readings.
My interests exceeded my reading time, so I was shocked when my email inbox held 45 messages primarily from Substack. I encountered one fine newsletter after another and subscribed. I knew I couldn’t sustain that workload and continue my creative endeavors, so I realized I must unsubscribe from a few newsletters.
Saying that is easier than achieving it. I read as many as I can and each one merits continued subscription. I open and read and find such wonderful prose and poetry, and I cannot let it go. Nevertheless, push has come to shove, and I will be unsubscribing from a few newsletters that are well worth reading.
Meanwhile, here are brief reviews of two poetry books.
On Phillips Creek Natalie Kimbell Finishing Line Press 2024 ISBN 979-8-8838-626-2Natalie Kimbell teaches English, Theater Arts, and Creative Writing. Her prose and poetry have appeared in several literary magazines.
Her book opens with the poem “River.” Titles are capitalized and “RIVER” begins with these lines: “I am a River of women’s stories / passing fluid, from mother to daughter- / distinct, like the sound of stones / skimming across pools of eternity.” The stories continue with “THE BOOK OF THE DEAD,” a name her granddaughter gave to the family picture album
The poet’s family and a homestead gone to a coal company are recurring themes in this inspired book of verse. Kimbell recalls visiting that homestead, bordered by Phillips Creek, a few weeks each year while growing up, so the passage of time is also a recurring theme. A painting of the homestead is reproduced on the book’s cover.
“MOURNING THE DEATH OF MY EX-HUSBAND’S SECOND WIFE” is a fine example of Kimbell’s wry sense of humor. I hear that she has another chapbook coming out soon.
Morning Window Bill Brown Iris Press ISBN 978-1-60454-501-2Bill Brown mentored many poets and taught Creative Writing at Nashville’s Hume/Fog academic high school. Brown received awards or fellowships from the Tennessee Writer’s Alliance, The Tennessee Arts Commission, and The National Endowment for Advancement of the Arts. Biographies appear online courtesy of Iris Press and Nashville Scene. Morning Windows has a page on the Iris Press website.
His poetry's recurring themes are family, rural life, and the natural world. The poem “Tracing Words” is exemplary of his work. “Could something announce // the importance of now and let / forever sit a while on the porch / proud of our neighbor’s new hay, / the buckskin’s flashy eyes?”
I reviewed Bill’s poetry textbook, Important Words in a previous edition of Crane’s Eye View. Chapter 16, a literary newsletter published in Nashville put a few of Bill’s poems online. “In Praise of Winter Trees,” was one of them. They also posted Love for Life: A Grateful Tribute to Bill Brown by writer Kim Green.
I have seen a list of his books somewhere, but here are links to a few I have read.
Late Winter
The News Inside
Elemental
The Cairns
I once said that good writing is subject to the law of supply and demand and supply far outruns demand. That statement has come home to roost with my Substack readings.
My interests exceeded my reading time, so I was shocked when my email inbox held 45 messages primarily from Substack. I encountered one fine newsletter after another and subscribed. I knew I couldn’t sustain that workload and continue my creative endeavors, so I realized I must unsubscribe from a few newsletters.
Saying that is easier than achieving it. I read as many as I can and each one merits continued subscription. I open and read and find such wonderful prose and poetry, and I cannot let it go. Nevertheless, push has come to shove, and I will be unsubscribing from a few newsletters that are well worth reading.
Meanwhile, here are brief reviews of two poetry books.
On Phillips Creek Natalie Kimbell Finishing Line Press 2024 ISBN 979-8-8838-626-2Natalie Kimbell teaches English, Theater Arts, and Creative Writing. Her prose and poetry have appeared in several literary magazines.
Her book opens with the poem “River.” Titles are capitalized and “RIVER” begins with these lines: “I am a River of women’s stories / passing fluid, from mother to daughter- / distinct, like the sound of stones / skimming across pools of eternity.” The stories continue with “THE BOOK OF THE DEAD,” a name her granddaughter gave to the family picture album
The poet’s family and a homestead gone to a coal company are recurring themes in this inspired book of verse. Kimbell recalls visiting that homestead, bordered by Phillips Creek, a few weeks each year while growing up, so the passage of time is also a recurring theme. A painting of the homestead is reproduced on the book’s cover.
“MOURNING THE DEATH OF MY EX-HUSBAND’S SECOND WIFE” is a fine example of Kimbell’s wry sense of humor. I hear that she has another chapbook coming out soon.
Morning Window Bill Brown Iris Press ISBN 978-1-60454-501-2Bill Brown mentored many poets and taught Creative Writing at Nashville’s Hume/Fog academic high school. Brown received awards or fellowships from the Tennessee Writer’s Alliance, The Tennessee Arts Commission, and The National Endowment for Advancement of the Arts. Biographies appear online courtesy of Iris Press and Nashville Scene. Morning Windows has a page on the Iris Press website.
His poetry's recurring themes are family, rural life, and the natural world. The poem “Tracing Words” is exemplary of his work. “Could something announce // the importance of now and let / forever sit a while on the porch / proud of our neighbor’s new hay, / the buckskin’s flashy eyes?”
I reviewed Bill’s poetry textbook, Important Words in a previous edition of Crane’s Eye View. Chapter 16, a literary newsletter published in Nashville put a few of Bill’s poems online. “In Praise of Winter Trees,” was one of them. They also posted Love for Life: A Grateful Tribute to Bill Brown by writer Kim Green.
I have seen a list of his books somewhere, but here are links to a few I have read.
Late Winter
The News Inside
Elemental
The Cairns
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