SUPERPOWERS or: More Poems About Flying

by Marian Kent

Pow! Pretty-words purveyor Marian Kent is back with a second collection of super-heroic verse, SUPERPOWERS or: More Poems About Flying. This bold volume showcases Marian's earthy yet extraordinary way of painting a landscape with her words. Other-worldly, sensual, whimsical, tragic, the poems of SUPERPOWERS soar with vision, strength, and hope.

Genres: Poetry

150 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2013

About the author

Marian Kent
Purveyor of Pretty Words and Superheroic Verse

Marian is the author of three poetry collections, Heart Container, SUPERPOWERS or: More Poems About Flying, and Responsive Pleading. She lives in Northampton, MA with her family. You can follow Marian's poetry and other missives at www.runawaysentence.com

Reviews

[Kir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to read Marian Kent's poems, they take you on a flight that is pulse racing, romantic, sexy and heartwarming all in one sitting. It's as if she's taken a peek inside your own dreams or regrets, she'd seen your fears and your celebrations and your ordinary days and made them extraordinary with her words.

Her book of poems needs to be savored, bookmarked and revisited over and over again. Each time I open it, I find another nugget of truth or a stanza that reminds me how powerful words and feelings are.

There is great strength in our weaknesses, there is true healing in our failures and missteps..and at the heart of our lives is Love, family, sex and the marvelous, miraculous journey that is parenthood and life.

Kent makes me aware of my own power, as a woman, as a writer, as a mother and as a human being. Her words made me want me to fly.

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Marian Kent through Write on Edge. To be perfectly honest, I bought her book because I thought the cover looked pretty and I wanted to support a friend. I wrote a lot of poetry in college (because DRAMA makes for great poetry…) but haven’t really gotten back into it since then. I’m not really one to pick up a book of poetry to read. It’s just not who I am as a reader.

Now, I really enjoyed Marian’s Superpowers or: More Poems About Flying. It took me a few poems to get into it. I have to read poetry aloud to get the full experience of it. Reading it in my head, like I read novels, just lets the words flow past me and I usually miss the big picture.

So there I stood, stirring the spaghetti and reading poetry aloud in the kitchen. I read it aloud as I switched the clothes from the washer to the dryer. I recited poetry in the living room, sprawled out on the couch. And soaking my aching back in the warm bathtub.

I love Marian’s words. I love the simplicity of some of the poems. They are snapshots of her day, her life, her experiences. They are ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. I think what really gets me is the ones that feel like short little journal entries. Something happened in her day, she wrote a poem about it and perfectly captured that tiny moment of a larger life.

Not only do I not read poetry very much, but I’m not very good at writing about it either. I decided I would share one of my favorites and then just tell you that Superpowers is definitely worth a read.

"Hushed

Watch over me,
crescent Moon.
Venus and Jupiter,
please stand guard
as I whisper dark truths;
I’m not good enough.

But you are."

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Western Massachusetts poet Marian Kent soars with her second book of poetry, "Superpowers or: More Poems About Flying." Marian's book is divided into chapters titled, aptly, by superpowers: Invisibility, Super-Strength, Flight, X-Ray Vision, etc. But these powers represent very real things: the power of being a mother, a lover, a friend, and observer, and, well, all the things that make each of us a living, breathing entity. I recommend "Superpowers" for all lovers of contemporary poetry. It has a bit of everything: sexy poems, playful poems, serious poems, dream poems, form poems, freeform poems and tearjerker poems. What I relate to most are Marian's poems about the innate "superpowers" involved with raising and nurturing children in uncertain circumstances. But the thing I like most about this book is its superb and careful presentation. The cover? Brilliant. Especially to any comic book fan. The fonts inside are wonderful and crisp. And the poems are expertly organized. Deep down, we all have the wings to fly.

[E.W. Storch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marian's grasp of what it means to be human - from its darkest depths to it glorious heights - is on full display in SUPERPOWERS. This book of easy-to-read and easy-to-understand poems is organized in sections by traditional superpower - flight, super-strength, invisibility, etc. - and the poems in each section clearly represent, in some fashion, the power they are grouped with.

The book itself was designed from cover to cover with traditional comic books in mind, right down to the font used on each page. (It's a shame the back cover is not on display. On it, it claims that if you send in a dollar you can get "Slimline X-Ray Specs" that will give you "many, many amazing astounding illusory X-Ray views.")

Marian has outdone herself with this volume of poetry and I highly recommend it to both the novice and expert poet readers.

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marian Kent stands tall in her verses and you feel her cape brush you as you read. She can take such few words and speak them so profoundly you must reread it to digest all she spoke. She gets personal, revealing her truths, and I feel my own connection to them. She writes of life exactly as it happens. Yes, Marian, there can never be too many poems about flying. I am glad you stopped long enough to write your journey. This book is a treat! Grab your cape and add it to your library!

[Michael Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot recommend highly enough. Marvelous from start to finish.

[Cameron Garriepy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marian Kent's poetry embodies nothing less than the extraordinary grace of everyday life in this, her second collection of poetry. SUPERPOWERS is a ballad, an ode, to all that is being in the world. She taps into those feelings we keep closest, expanding them until they can't be contained on the page.

Her language is by turns rough and lush, her imagery vivid, and the structure of the volume is not to be ignored. It's impossible not to adore the visual homage to comic books and a bygone era, and impossible to ignore its wonderful significance within the poetry inside.