I’m celebrating the 3rd anniversary of publishing my poetry collection Songs of Heartstrings: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude.
The free download is for October 29, 12:01 a.m. to October 30, 11:59 p.m. PDT.
It has been my pleasure meeting many new authors and bloggers during the last three years. I would like for you to have the eBook version of my poetry book.
Hope you’ll enjoy this poetry collection illustrated with my photography and watercolor paintings.
It’s the fourth week of the month! Harmony Kent from last month’s challenge picked the theme for Colleen’s Weekly Poetry Challenge. This month’s theme is Kindness.
I chose the Alouette poetry form for this poem.
The Alouette, created by Jan Turner, consists of two or more stanzas of 6 lines each, (12 lines or more) with the following set rules: Syllabic: 5/5/7/5/5/7, Rhyme Scheme: aabccb.
The form name is a French word meaning ‘skylark’ or larks that fly high, the association to the lark’s song being appropriate for the musical quality of this form. The word ‘alouette’ can also mean a children’s song (usually sung in a group), and although this poetry form is not necessarily for children’s poetry (but can be applied that way), it is reminiscent of that style of short lines.
I’m very excited that Barbara at Book Club Mom is featuring me today at her blog. I invited you to head over to read the interview.
Author Name: Miriam Hurdle
Genre: Poetry and Children’s Books
Books: Songs of Heartstrings: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude and Tina Lost in a Crowd
Brief Bio: I write poetry, flash fiction, short stories, and children’s stories. I’m retired after two years of counseling, fifteen years of teaching, and ten years of school administration. During my retirement, I enjoy gardening, painting, photography, and traveling, especially going to visit my granddaughters.
What got you started as a writer?After I finished college in Hong Kong, I wrote children’s books as part of my job in a literacy company. In 2016, I started blogging with the desire to share my cancer recovery journey. The blogging took me to write about my travel notes, flash fiction, gardening, and poetry. I compiled the poems written in two years to publish my first poetry collection.
What difficult experience has helped you as a writer? I think the ten years of my first marriage, the five years being separated from my daughter, and my cancer experience made me look at life differently and helped me as a writer.
Have you ever participated in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)? If so, how many times and what was your experience? I have participated in the NaNoWriMo 2017, and the NaNoWriMo Camp in July 2020 …
It’s an exciting day today to share the goodnews with you about my friend, Elizabeth Gauffreau’s new release GriefSongs: Poems of Love & Remembrance.
About the Book
Blurb
“Poetry readers willing to walk the road of grief and family connections will find Grief Songs: Poems of Love & Remembrance a psychological treasure trove. It’s a very accessible poetic tribute that brings with it something to hold onto–the memories and foundations of past family joys, large and small.” ~Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review
“Grief Songs: Poems of Love & Remembrance is a passionate ode to loved ones lost and an intimate portrayal of one family’s shared grief. It holds the key to solace in home photographs and illustrates just how special our singular moments can be. ~Toni Woodruff, Independent Book Review
“A beautiful, personal collection of family photos and poems that express the author’s most inner feelings. Nostalgic and heartfelt, Gauffreau’s poems are written in the Japanese style of tanka, simple, thoughtful, and full of love. Filled with wonderful memories of the past.” ~Kristi Elizabeth, Manhattan Book Review
My Review
Grief Songs: Poems of Love and Remembrance is a poetry collection written in Tanka form. After her mother passed away, Elizabeth Gauffreau cleaned up the “forbidden rooms” and found the “hidden photographs.” These are the photographs of the author and her father, mother, and brother George.
Grieving is a personal process that can last for any length of time. The memories of the loved ones could be fleeting or lingering moments, and the emotion of grieving could be of the surface or intensely deep.
In Grief Songs, the photos brought back the intensity of the precious memories to the author. Elizabeth expressed her grief in poetry. She paired the poems with each photo included in this collection.
One poem was about the author’s mother took her and George to the vaccination. Their mother gave the kids a treat of root beer floats for being good for the occasion. By the way, root beer is a soda, not a beer with alcohol! Another fun poem was about a youth group picnic when the author and her brother waited for their dad in the car after the picnic. Apparently, their dad didn’t come right away. They pressed the honk for so long that when their dad finally came back; the battery was dead. I loved the poem and the photo with Elizabeth and George sitting on their father’s lap for reading time as a nightly ritual. The lines were, “Waiting until your father gets home, not a threat but a promise.”
There were poems about Elizabeth as a kid for the first sacrament, confirmation, and baptism. What precious memories as she could see the history from the beginning of her life when father and mother holding her in their arms that led to her present life.
Family time such as clam bake at the beach and the family reunion always flashed back fond memories that ache the heart yet bring smiles on the face. The dying takes away a part of the ones left behind yet leaves them something sweet and long-lasting.
The poetry is a short read, yet the emotion of joy and sorrow lingers long after I put down the book. Highly recommended
Elizabeth Gauffreau writes fiction and poetry with a strong connection to family and place. She holds a B.A. in English from Old Dominion University and an M.A. in English/Fiction Writing from the University of New Hampshire. She is currently the Assistant Dean of Curriculum & Assessment for Champlain College Online, where she is an Associate Professor. Her fiction and poetry have been published in literary magazines and several themed anthologies. Her debut novel, Telling Sonny, was published by Adelaide Books in 2018. Liz lives in Nottingham, New Hampshire with her husband.
I’m over at Rebecca Budd’s Tea Toast & Trivia. She invited me to have a conversation with her about my book Song of Heartstrings: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude. We talked about poetry, nature, resilience of life and a lot more.
Podcast by Rebecca Budd
I invite you to go over to visit her blog, listen and join our conversation by clicking the link:
![Songs of Heartstrings: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude by [Miriam Hurdle]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41dgiMtCq+L.jpg)
The Showers of Blessings 