Measures B.L. Bruce Publisher: Black Swift Press Pages: 134 ISBN: 9781735707402Reviewed: March, 2021 BUY THE BOOK ON AMAZON Excerpt from BlueInk Review [B.L. Bruce's] newest poetry collection, Measures, by turns elicits tenderness and melancholy, hopefulness and heartbreak—which is to say, the gamut of the human condition.Measures includes 58, mostly free verse poems with occasional haiku. Imagery from the natural world is often [...]
The poems of Measures embrace lyrical tendencies as they move through the seasons of a troubled relationship. Both absence and presence haunt the pages of b. l. bruce’s poetry collection, Measures. A one time lover and longed for friend adventures to the water, leaving their companion alone on the shore. Wrinkles appear as if grooved overnight, and the [...]
Luminous and piercing… Lyrical and reflective, award-winning Bruce’s latest, a collection of poems, micropoetry, and American haiku, offers a litany of ruminations on nature, love, and self. “Full Moon at Albion River” is a meditation on the wonders of nature. With her knack for creating intricate emotional textures, Bruce infuses mourning and grief with tangible [...]
RAINSONG What of this winter here?The unhappy song of rain andwind in the bay laurel,rainwater in the fountaina mixing of what is oursand what is not. I go to the meadowwhen the storm has slowedto see what has changed,what unknowable thirst was quenched: the howl and fury in the nightbrought down the tall sequoia,and with [...]
MOCKINGBIRD As it often doesmoving by memory,your body finds mine, fitspuzzled into angles and curvesin those hushed hours—were it not for the mockingbirdscreaming into the moonlit,slate-grey sky. I envy you,your unbothered sleep.No torment. No great,stirring voicein your mindscreaming,screaming. c. B. L. BruceFirst published by VisitantFollow Bruce on Instagram @thepoesis and Twitter @the_poesis
DARK STAR I had not expected, mid-life,that already my shining yearswould be behind me, tradedfor more essential things:what it meansto have patience,to wage a war,how to endure. I remember clearer now:the smooth dunes,bare shoulders,my body feeling somehowless bound, belongingto me. You came outof the sea—salt on skin.In a particular way,your face openedbeneath the midday sky.Those [...]
Lightning flickers over the Santa Lucia Mountains.Stretching past the tideline, the swollen moondances in the dark bay--I think of Li Poon the bank of the Yangtze River.Perhaps he, too, saw a woman lying bare, shiveringin the cold. c. B. L. BruceExcerpt from The Weight of Snow
More autumn months graced by frost,the flowering quince dies. I set outto walk the edge of the woods,think of all the pleasures in being alone. c. B. L. BruceFirst published by the Soundings Review PURCHASE COLLECTION Follow B. L. Bruce Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoesis/Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_poesis
Humana Obscura is now accepting submissions of poetry, prose, and art for its inaugural Fall/Winter issue! While we are open to style, we’re looking for work that is nuanced, honest, raw, and imagistic with strong elements of the natural world or the human-nature relationship. We are an independent, bi-annual online literary magazine that seeks to [...]
As I embark on my journey to revive more of my own personal work, I've taken to posting poems, prose, and more on a brand new, focused Instagram account. The lines between profession and personal began to blur, so I'm setting aside a special space to get real and vulnerable and share the work that [...]
