poetry – Page 24 – Prolific Pulse Blog

Announcements, art, Book Announcements, poetry

Announcing: End of Earth – Kindle Exclusive!

January 24, 2025 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

Poet Nolcha Fox and Artist Mike Armstrong have known each other for over 30 years. It is only natural that this would result in an amazing collaboration. “End of Earth – A Collaboration of Poetry and Painting” is the result. The rich, colorful, expression of art by Armstrong encouraged Fox’s poetic muse to create these thought-provoking poems. Such a collaboration is like no other and, well, you must see this for yourself. It is a little book with a big WOW factor. This would make a lovely gift for art and poetry lovers.

What do others have to say?

End of Earth, a Collaboration of Poetry and Painting, by Nolcha Fox and Mike Armstrong is ekphrastic art at its finest, a seamless coming together of vibrant brushstrokes and memorable lines in poem after poem. From “They circle” we have “Ah, they are money vampires. / They tell me they can hook me up, / no, cook me up in style.” The wit, music, and metaphors that comprise Nolcha Fox’s style are alive and well in End of Earth; it contains some of her best recent work. She is our contemporary Emily Dickinson, but also an original, fulfilling the potential of her poetic self in this new book.

Peter Mladinic, author of House Sitting, and The Homesick Mortician

Without a doubt, Nolcha Fox is the most interesting, inventive writer of poetry on the scene today.

John Yamrus, author of Present Tense

And now, January 25-31 there’s a .99 Kindle Exclusive Deal! https://a.co/d/i1Fpf50

Irony won’t be wasted! As January 25 is National Florida Day, let’s honor Mike Armstrong, the Artist of this team. He is in Sunny Florida!

art, books, poetry

Where Poetry Meets Art

January 16, 2025January 16, 2025 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

Have you picked up your copy of End of Earth? We love to hear what you think. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated. End of Earth

Here are some reviews that have been posted:

Peter Mladinic

5.0 out of 5 stars The Stars Will Remember

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2024

Perhaps in a future ions away, the stars will remember life on earth, the life of planets, animals, and humans, which is precisely what Nolcha Fox is writing about in End of Earth, a document of that life in poetic lines about people, places, and things in her past and present. Her poems, each of them, are complimented by Mike Armstrong’s paintings,
that are vivid, abstract, and evoke impressions suited to the particular mood of each poem. In her point of view, sensibilities, and brevity, Fox is our contemporary Emily Dickinson, and very much herself, her own person.

B. Leonhard

5.0 out of 5 stars a stunning collaboration of art and poetry

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2024

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The free verse poems speak of grief and loss. The abstract art is just as soulful. I highly recommend the book!

G. Magrini

5.0 out of 5 stars An Exemplar on Collaboration That Includes Beauty and Poetry

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2024

Nolcha Fox has always been a sharp and intuitive writer, using serrated incisions of the word to establish truth, humor, and other weapons of choice to create her perfect reality, or to showcase the diseased realities we prefer not to see. Her collaboration with Mike Armstrong is a stroke of genius, as his images perfectly enhance Nolcha’ s poetry, or is it the other way around? It is this dissonance which I am thrilled to experience through End of Earth!

Munmun Samanta

5.0 out of 5 stars Stellar fusion of art and poetry

Reviewed in India on 12 December 2024

In this eclectic collection “End of Earth” by Nolcha Fox and Mike Armstrong, you will enjoy the ceremony of words and images in perfect harmony. Nolcha Fox’s pen matches perfectly with Mike Armstrong’s brush strokes to explore the nuanced landscape of human emotions. I like to recommend this book to all the book lovers specifically to those who love to relish the vibrancy of life most poetically. Though one can read the book in a single sitting, each poem demands engagement, reflection, and the courage to face the brutal truth. These free verses celebrate variegated emotions and interplay of imagery. Cynicism catches the image of vultures waiting to feast on the carcasses. At the backdrop of a citrus sunset, someone preserves the warmth of love in sharing an orange, half. Sun emerges like a bulky woman kissing the mountains. Unrequited love is represented by a red poppy flower aimed as a bullet to the soulless shell that bounces it off. Fox’s poetry is like fragments of images, poignant glimpses of human existence, uncomfortable yet honest. If you are ready to assemble those fragments of expression and fill the silence between what is said and left unsaid, then this book is for you. Read this book as a challenge, as a puzzle, as a brazen explosion of human vulnerability.

Announcements, poetry, TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful-January 13, 2025

January 13, 2025 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

Photo by Raul Kou017eenevski on Pexels.com

Happy TTOT Time! So many things to be thankful for…Let’s do this!

Another birthday! This time it was for my sweetheart. We had a home celebration with a favorite meal. He had cheesecake at work, so nothing made at home. But…there’s always ice cream!
Workshop time! We had an interesting Poetry Workshop at the Garden of Neuro. Chyrel Jackson and I taught it. The theme was “Social commentary from the perspective of community, race, rage, social injustice.” We are writing a group poem as a result.
Projects that find a way to getting done. Whew and I sent another book to the press.
Cardinal spotted! I don’t see them often and never have seen one on the porch, but there was a fat one looking for dinner, just hopping around the porch. He didn’t like what I had to offer. I suppose the squirrels will.
Sister memories. Speaking of cardinals. Cardinals are symbolic-in our family-of memories about my nephews Michael and Keith. Both were Saint Louis Cardinals fans, big time. My sister, who passed away a few years ago in January, received a cardinal painting from my great niece, who painted it.

7. As a family, we participated in the Angel Card Project for Christmas. We expanded this, now to other occasions. As many of you know, daughter makes cards. She has been sending more cards for special occasions, such as if someone is sick and needs cheering. And now, she seems to have become the sympathy card sender. She decided to make some sympathy cards awhile back and now she’s being asked. It’s a great feeling to know that someone might smile when they receive a card. I am happy that daughter has found this hobby.

8. Glimpses of heaven. A friend shared their testimony about how they had a near death experience and how they were told, from the other side, that what they would take with them, what the memories would be, would be the love. Love is the one thing that you would remember and take with you. It really got me to thinking about how the soul is simply full of love moments.

9. Flowers and a sweet exchange. My sweetheart loves flowers. It’s understandable, since his father established a tulip bulb business in Mount Airy, NC after years of traveling from their home in the Netherlands. Sweetie doesn’t really feel comfortable picking out flowers for me, but since he would like me to enjoy them, he makes sure I can get some when I get a notion. My go to place is usually Trader Joe’s. I was there last week, picking out a bouquet, and a lady probably my age struck up a conversation with me. She was selecting a bouquet for herself. She was so sweet and telling me about her relationship with her ex and how she preferred the flowers over him. ha-ha All through the store, I kept running into her and she always smiled. I just found this to be a joyful moment.

10. You! What’s your thankful this week? Please share. Oh, and this is coming up! I will be one of the presenters. 🙂