Only Beautiful Remains: Words of a Poet

by Catherine Mellen

Poetry, where a rambling of words stumble together and create a window into a poet's world. A galaxy of emotions that run on memories filled with faith love, pain, joy, sadness and the habitation of worlds unknown.

Only Beautiful Remains began inside a nightstand drawer. A place where sheets of loose-leaf paper and a scrambling of words rested together for decades. Though its contents multiplied over the years, the nightstand drawer remained closed with its treasure of poetry inside.

Then one day, the drawer opened and welcomed you all inside the mine of a poet. A place where words stumble upon stairs of faith, through the teardrops of life and the tender hearts of love, whilst the harmony of society sings and all the beautiful that remains in the tiny pieces of a poet’s life.

Catherine Mellen is an American poet and author who shattered her silence on childhood trauma, family secrets and the monstrous predator her birth mother harbored. Now she writes about the pretty things in life, a place where Only Beautiful Remains.

109 pages, Paperback

Published May 6, 2024

About the author

Catherine Mellen is an American poet and author.  Born in 1969 Lowell Massachusetts.  She wrote her first poem at age fourteen and quickly adapted her love for words.  Shamed by the childhood she lived, she became a cook and caterer for nearly three decades.  An auto accident at age forty-five, left her disabled, a victim to horrifying repressed memories and plenty of free time to put over thirty years of writing into multiple books. In 2018 she started a blog where she shattered her silence on childhood trauma, family secrets and the monstrous predator her birth mother harbored.

Her poetry has been published in numerous poetry journals and she is the author of:

Christmas in Poetry Land: A delightful collection of holiday poetry.

Survivor's Mind/When Childhood Trauma and Poetry Collide: A window into the world of childhood trauma, family secrets and inside the mind of a survivor, poetically written.

A Childhood Tragedy Under A Mother's Watch/Part One 1975-1982 Lowell Massachusetts: The horrifying true story of one girl's desperation for survival.

A Life Given To Me/Part Two 1982-2019 Lowell Massachusetts: From Victim, to Statistic, to Survivor, her continuing life story and the heartbreaking reality into her search for answers.

Understanding Childhood Trauma: A call-out to society, schools, medical professionals and laws for a better understanding of childhood trauma. Written by a grown-up abused child.

Only Beautiful Remains: A fascinating collection of poetry on life, faith, love, society and the tiny pieces of myself.

Then You’ll Believe: An inspiring true story of friendship, faith and the undeniable gift of a promise.

Emotional Poison: Sixty-Nine erotic and sometimes hilarious sex-break poems. Coming in October 2025

Follow Catherine on the Amazon app for updates of new releases. 

Reviews

[Ivy Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only Beautiful Remains by Catherine Mellen is a soulful, heartwrenching collection of poems . What I find exceptional about her writing is that its very down to earth and finds congruity and appeal with the inner poet in all of us . The poems encompass love, loss, longing, parting, finding each other, life and beyond. Catherine's poetry celebrates love and longing so beautifully. You can literally see the pain, joy and myriad emotions all soaked in her words waiting for you to delve deep into them and find a resonance with your feelings. The poetry is a heady mix of rhythmic words beautifully crafted together by a wonderful poet and in the end you know ~ only Beautiful Remains.

[Kelly Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Only Beautiful Remains: Words of a Poet,” is a poignant collection of poems by Catherine Mellen. In the author’s words, “Poetry, where a rambling of words stumble together and create a window into a poet's world. A galaxy of emotions that run on memories filled with faith love, pain, joy, sadness and the habitation of worlds unknown.”
Some of the verses are charming and sweet; others are haunting. But all are heart-felt, expressive, and evocative, a fine book to savor with a cup of tea. I really enjoyed them. If you are fond of poetry, give these a try!

[M.A. Quigley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blending into Life

Poet Mellen’s poetry speaks about the many facets of life where she senses spirits watching over her. From young to old, Mellen lets us into her world where we see pieces of her and the hand she’s been dealt as she walks through society, and the need for a true friend who will listen to her. We get to experience her hopes and shattered dreams, and her lost loves, as well as many other things. It takes courage to write from the heart about memories while trying to remain positive and stay strong, and Mellen’s poetry does it justice. A five-star read.

[M Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely collection of poetic thoughts. Poetic without pretense. The author shares many glimpses into her life and what is not said is nearly as important as what is said.
The author isn't trying to be fancy, only honest and the beauty she shares in different forms is worthy of our attention.
I enjoyed this volume a lot.

[L. M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only Beautiful Remains is a lovely book of thoughts and poetry. In A Strangers Hero I was brought powerfully back to a hard day in the world. I particularly appreciated the thoughts in Phone Time, Don't Drink and Drive, and Only One World.

[Norb Aikin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This lyrical collection runs the gamut of emotions, from loss and grief to hope and jubilation. Mellen's words and basic rhyme schemes combine to form something moving and extraordinary; each page contains something that just clicks. If you're newly into poetry or don't think you "get" poetry, this is the perfect place to start.