Songs of Heartstrings | The Showers of Blessings

Category Archives: Songs of Heartstrings

#bookreview: Songs of Heartstrings: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle 11 comments

I’m so thrilled that Liz Gauffreau, the poet, features me on her blog today. She did a fabulous and insightful review of my poetry collection, Songs of Heartstrings. She highlighted two of my poems and read one. Please head over to enjoy. While you’re there, check out her publications.

Elizabeth Gauffreau

Click on book cover to purchase from Amazon.

My Review

Reading Miriam Hurdle’s poetry collection, Songs ofHeartstrings: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude, I was immediately struck by the poems’ depth and breadth of reflection. The maturity of these contemplative poems brought to mind educational reformer John Dewey’s definition of reflective thinking as a meaning-making process by which individuals learn and society advances. This meaning-making process is very much in evidence throughout the collection–as is Hurdle’s strong religious faith.

The collection is organized into thematic sections, like suites of music. Taken together, they form the rich symphony of a life well-lived, including the inevitable discordant notes.

Hurdle employs of a range of forms in the collection, including free verse of varying lengths, acrostic, and prose poem, thereby demonstrating her sensitivity to the relationship between form and content. She chooses the form of poetic expression that will best communicate to readers…

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Earth Day

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle 59 comments

April 22 is Earth Day. Clive has a post recounting the history of Earth Day. The Earth Day 2022 Theme is Invest In Our Planet – Earthday.org. Please drop by to learn more about this important message.

“This is the moment to change it all — the business climate, the political climate, and how we take action on climate. Now is the time for the unstoppable courage to preserve and protect our health, our families, our livelihoods… together, we must Invest In Our Planet.

Because a green future is a prosperous future.” – Earthday.org

The photo of this amazing tree was taken in Laguna Beach, California

Rooted

A tree was beaten

but not dead.

Branches were twisted

and broken.

Leaves flopped

and withered.

There was no sign of

life in the cracked trunk.

The hopes of survival were

close to none.

No struggle or complaint

in the silent moments.

Grounded roots

crawled deep into the soil,

searched quietly

the smell of moisture.

Answered the call of the faint rhythm,

the wimpy limbs extended.

Greeted by the welcoming warmth

high above.

The innate yearning for being alive

followed the sun,

reaching toward the sky.

The tree in the above image inspired me to write this poem as part of the collection in my book, Songs of heartstrings: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude. – Amazon

Free Book Promotion Link

Posted on October 30, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle 81 comments

Songs of Heartstrings: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude by [Miriam Hurdle]

Dear friends,

I’m celebrating the 3^rd 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.

Click Buy on Amazon Link:

~ ~ ~

Trailer created by Diana D. Wallace

Who’s That Indie Author? Miriam Hurdle

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle 42 comments

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 …

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Season 3 Episode 37: Miriam Hurdle on Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude – Podcast by Rebecca Budd

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle

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.