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Romp and Ceremony
by Jeannie E. Roberts
73 pages ~ 51 poems
ISBN-10: 1635341430
ISBN-13: 978-1635341430
Price: $19.99
Publisher: Finishing Line Press (February 24, 2017)




ABOUT THE BOOK:


Romp and Ceremony, a full-length poetry collection, by Jeannie E. Roberts, combines
humor, sound play, light and shadow, and close observation of our natural world.
Divided into six sections, Seasonal Disorders, Brighter Days Ahead, Signs of Life,
Food and Other Phenomena, All Life Shines, and Romp It Up!, Roberts takes the reader
on a vibrant, compassionate, and entertaining seasonal journey, drawing on both human
and non-human stories as her framework.


ADVANCE PRAISE:


"Combining sound play and her signature good humor with a keenly observed world, Jeannie Roberts serves up poems that are
effervescent. Reader, I recommend you enjoy this book with a good glass of bubbly on a light spring day. But if those aren't
available, the poems here should be enough."
—Sarah Sadie Busse, author of We Are Traveling Through Dark at Tremendous Speeds


Another delightful collection, full of Roberts' finally tuned ear, microscopic eye and sharp wit. Enjoy."
—Bruce Taylor, Poet Laureate of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA


"Romp and Ceremony is a fun book with lines like "O praised be tomatoes / noodles and sauce / let there be lobster / salmon and
squash" and "She was a tenderhearted woman who suffered / from tendinitis and lived in a tenement with tenebrous / tendencies."
Jeannie E. Roberts is a sound poet capable of rich music as in "Here, the push of life meets layers / of remains, greets the collective
decay / with grace and stance" and "Before evening pulled apricot / and lemon leapt from corn horizon, / there, there you were // lifting,
shifting, from basil / to railing, arugula to ailing / tomato, and back again." A book for all those who admire the sobriety of ceremony
and appreciate the intoxication of romp.
—Bill Yarrow, author of Blasphemer


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Jeannie E. Roberts writes, draws and paints, and often photographs her natural surroundings. Her fifth book, The Wingspan of Things, a
poetry chapbook, is forthcoming from Dancing Girl Press. She is the author of Beyond Bulrush, a full-length poetry collection (Lit Fest
Press, 2015), Nature of it All, a poetry chapbook (Finishing Line Press, 2013), and the author and illustrator of Let's Make Faces!, a
children's book (Rhyme the Roost Books, an imprint of JR Creative Studios, 2009). Born in Minneapolis, she considers both Minnesota
and Wisconsin home.


FROM THE BOOK:


Oyster
by Jeannie E. Roberts

You drop and slide
within silken tides
of eternity
slipping
between now and soon
swirling
through past and future
joining jelly fish
as it rises then falls away

You could hold
the oldest pearl
the youngest seed
as you filter
then feed on plankton
but you've been caught

O how they crave
your mass of brine-softness
your primordial kiss where
you clasp and clench
your jewel-prone chest
only to be opened

O sea-swept Bivalvia
how you glow
on the half-shell
gleam
steeped in sauce when
you're swallowed

You drop and slide
within silken tides
of eternity
slipping
between now and soon
swirling
through past and future
joining belly's dish
as it rises then falls away


 

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