Through Shimmering Smoke

by Emma Rose Garcia

When the dream of love is twisted into violence and abuse, that first tender spark suddenly ignites the whole room around the dreamer—fire creeping up the carpet, curtains, and bedposts. But if she’s lucky, the blaring of the smoke alarm jolts her from her restless sleep just in time. “Waking up was what hurt— / Flames piercing through my stomach, / Burning through my body like a vacant home.” In her harrowing collection, Through Shimmering Smoke, poet Emma Rose Garcia opens herself like a tinderbox, bringing all those combustible secrets and scars to light. In the smoke-choked aftermath of her rape, the military structure that she trusts instead leaves her to claw her own way out—through deep depression and lawyers, PTSD and court dates, suicidal ideation and broken no-contact orders. “Friction forces its frail walls to collapse, / My mind suffocated by the debris / As it caves in on top of me,” the poet says. But in spite of all the reasons she is told to give up, she persists. She chooses life—her own. Through Shimmering Smoke is a lyrical lament for the person she used to be. After the embers and ash have stopped falling around her like snow, poet Emma Rose Garcia pulls her own still-burning heart from the rubble and rebuilds.

104 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2022

Reviews

[Bookewyfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband knows the local author and got this book for me. It was an intense collection of poems telling a story of assault with multiple levels of abuse, and the long road to healing, and ultimately, real love. I’ve been there and so the writing really struck emotions with me. I was in a abusive relationship for a long time. Assaulted as a senior in high school. It took me years to be able to talk about any of it. My then boyfriend now husband was patient and just loved me. He understood what it would take in order for me to heal. The trauma is still there and sometimes it presents itself. But we get through it together. He’s my best friend and I don’t know what I would do without him. Highly recommend this book. Please know that you are not alone and that there is always someone who will listen. Don’t give up.

[Toasty Applejack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautifully written. I felt very seen reading what the author went through, as I’m a survivor of domestic and substance abuse. Certain poems really stuck out to me as if I was reading about what happened to me through her experience. I highly recommend it to anyone either going through similar experiences or got out of them. Know there is always hope!