My Own Silence

by Jeanne Powell

Poetry. African American Studies. Women's Studies. At a time when the confessional mode has banished American poetry to one vast self- mirroring island, the work of Jeanne Powell nudges us again and again to break out of our little selves. Whether celebrating the triumphs of Australia's champion aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman, berating a hellish vacation in the Sierra foothills, disclosing the subtle and not so subtle pain of social injustice, or commemorating the powerful, dancing mother reared in the big band swing era, Powell rocks. Unfailingly, the open-hearted spirit of her prose and poetry allows us the re- experience our membership in one another.--Al Young, California Poet Laureate Emeritus

107 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2014

About the author

Dr. Jeanne was born in New York, raised in Michigan, and now lives in California.

She earned degrees from Wayne State University and University of San Francisco.

She writes poems, short fiction, stage plays and essays. Her books in print are MY OWN SILENCE, WORD DANCING, TWO SEASONS and DEEPLY NOTCHED LEAVES from Taurean Horn Press.

CAROUSEL is her collection of essays from Regent Press.

https://www.starkinsider.com/author/j....
Her film and cultural reviews may be found on
this site.

Reviews

[Ed Aust · Rating 5 out of 5]

These exquisite poems examine the world with a keen and perceptive eye. "Shall I talk about the pristine beauty / of the Great Lakes and skim over / satanic vapors from steel mills and iron foundries?" she asks in "When I Was Just a Little Girl." The answer in these poems is both yes and no. Jeanne Powell doesn't skim over any subject she feels important, but ponders life's contradictions in poems that are both lyrical and narrative, concluding with 20 pages of haiku that linger in the mind like sweet memories: "blue daisy dress / riverdancing after midnight / music of cicadas." Her poems range from a hilarious encounter on a train to a dark discovery in a Texas museum, unflinching in its irony. The pages are interlaced with abstract line drawings by Q.R.Hand,Jr., which contribute a visual counterpoint to these well-crafted poems. I love this book, well worth adding to my collection.

[Connie Pwll Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeanne Powell's poems make the reader feel they are inside the speaker -- so real. I think most readers are really secretly curious to know all about the other people they meet -- the things that have happened to them, the feelings they have felt. These are poems that push the reader to the heart of the story and make the protagonist live.