A Voice for Independent Authors
― E.A. BUCCHIANERI
REVIEWING TODAY: BLOSSOM AND BONE – POETRY OF NICOLE LYONS
For my money, Nicole Lyons is hands down the best poet writing today. By far. She simply excels at her craft, and she does so with the apparent ease of one who effortlessly speaks her soul without need of any edit or further rewrite. Which, of course, is impossible. One would think. And I have never encountered another poet who writes as seamlessly as she. But that is only to address the skill of writing. First must come the transformation and translation of feeling and transcendent being into words, and that requires pinpoint accuracy and impeccable handling in order not to damage the efficacy of those original goods. That is the agony of the poet, and the impossible challenge of her art. Nicole acts like it is simply second nature. Whatever effort is required comes from living the experience, not from putting it into words. At least, that is the impression left to the reader.
As if that were not enough, Nicole Lyons imbues her poetry with an impeccable grace of rhythm. One never stumbles in the reading, for one is simply watching and listening to a river run. How then to explain the savagery and rawness one confronts head on in her poems? How to account for the anatomical splaying of her soul? I’m telling you: it is impossible to do what she does.
Therefore, I must conclude with these words spoken in the Foreword of Blossom and Bone, and with which I am fully in agreement:
From the Foreword: “I had entered the cult of Nicole quite a long time ago when I first began reading her. Her poems got under my skin, they were unapologetic and raw, they begged me to not turn away, and they stayed with me after I put the book down.”
When I want to examine my own soul, I read the poetry of Nicole Lyons.
BLOSSOM AND BONE
Joel R. Dennstedt – Top Reviewer for Readers’ Favorite
