Ancient Maps and a Tarot Pack (Bitter Oleander Press Library of Poetry Award) - Softcover

Serena Fusek

9780999327951: Ancient Maps and a Tarot Pack (Bitter Oleander Press Library of Poetry Award)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 099932795X ISBN 13: 9780999327951

Publisher: Bitter Oleander Press, 2019

Poetry. Winner of the 2018 Bitter Oleander Press Library of Poetry Award (BOPLOPA).
"Creative minds experience resistance and encounter turmoil when trapped inside the confines of a utilitarian culture. Universal harmony suffers. So, what do some imaginations do? They write poems. Commenting on her poems in this book Serena Fusek confesses 'a sense that there is something--perhaps something important--right next to me that I cannot see.' She adds that her poems 'rise as obsessions with ravens and angels, ' plus 'how the light falls and stains the world with shadows.' In short, Fusek, disenchanted with the status quo, rejects the mundane: 'the sick snake of traffic / crawling slow as a clogged drain' and 'in the attic, / chained to the rafters, / the angel screams / without sound' in favor of harmony with nature: 'Here is my bed / with its rose quilt / and headboard woven of thorns. / I wander the deer trail.' Her diction is sensitive when she says 'eyes blue / as arctic snow at twilight' and 'we sat by the window / watched petals brown / and curl / like burning paper.' Along the way she wows with penetrating imagery: 'shocks of light / sizzle down air / that stinks of incense / and iron.' Fusek's language is an electric current flowing beyond the profane and into the sacred. How apropos she ends her poem, 'Prayer for Raven's return, ' with 'I listen / for Raven's call / hoarse as the rasp / of an old man / spilling a lifetime's secrets / summoning me / to the blood feast / of poetry.' ANCIENT MAPS AND A TAROT PACK is a sensitive and image rich journey through a private but shared universe. What a wonderful ride it is!----Alan Britt

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About the Author:

Serena Fusek was born in New Jersey. When she was a child her family moved frequently, which gave her a sense of wanderlust. Her travels have taken her to Europe and across the United States and Canada. Some of the miles were traveled on the back seat of a motorcycle. She has been part of the small press scene since the 1980's, publishing in such magazines as Poetry Motel, Impetus, Poet Lore, Semi Dwarf Quarterly, Chiron Review, The Bitter Oleander, Star-Line and Mythic Delirium among others. Twice she was nominated for a Rhysling, awarded by the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Slipstream Press published her chapbook The Color of Poison and her first full length collection of poems, Alphabet of Foxes, was published by San Francisco Bay Press. In addition she has had several chapbooks from Skiffs Creek Press, including Miles Melt Like Winter and The Bike Let Loose about her motorcycle adventures. She served on the editor's side of the desk with both Orphic Lute and Proof Rock. For Proof Rock she also wrote reviews of poetry publications. Today she co-hosts a poetry workshop and teaches a continuing education class in poetry. She is an amateur photographer. She currently lives in Virginia with her husband, John, two cats and shelves crammed with too many books.

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