Before the Wind: Poems out of my Life and Thought

by Mona D. Sizer

The poems in "Before the Wind" must speak for themselves with passionate clarity: 'A shriek in black ink down a diary's page." from "Passage: March 9, 1936."

'Savoring the perversity of power, I opened my hand." from 'Adventuring"

'In that world within our world
The explosion of Armageddon!" from 'A Conundrum Visited."

'Oh! Greedy Race to want much more than human!" from 'Speed"

'Thirty-four million miles apart,
Through space so narrow that
Your passing's like a kiss."
from 'On Seeing Mars" (August 27, 2003)

All the elements of fine ballads, free and rhymed verses, sonnets, and a villanelle are present in this volume. The past collides with the present in surprising images, and the vivid future is both possible and probable.

82 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2005

About the author

Mona D. Sizer was a teacher, conference speaker and author of fiction and non-fiction works that included biography, history, poetry, memoir and short stories. A Valley native, Sizer was born and raised in Raymondville, Texas. She earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from Texas Woman's University. Starting her career as a teacher, Sizer transitioned to becoming a writer.

Sizer was the author of historical and contemporary romance novels set in the RGV under the pen name Deana James, histories and biographies for Taylor Trade Publishing, a self-published memoir, short stories and contributed to several anthologies.

Sizer was a charter member of the Romance Writers of America® (RWA), was a member of the Narciso Marquez International Poetry Society and a lifetime member of the writer’s group Valley Byliners.
(Source: Museum of South Texas History)

Mona Dean Sizer wrote historical romances for Zebra as Deana James and a few romances as Rachel Davis.

She passed away on February 17, 2022.