Crowns

By Gail Fishman Gerwin

In these lively and often heart-piercing narrative poems, Gail Fishman Gerwin explores her own family history set under the long, dark shadow of the Holocaust. As the poems shift back and forth between now and then, the US and Europe, the living and the dead, we are reminded of what's been lost and what remains. Skillfully stitched together with a set of related motifs-paintings, photographs, dancing, hats, and beaded purses-this collection poignantly acknowledges that we can never know the whole story of our lives, that some pieces will always be missing. By sharing her personal stories, Gerwin compels us to feel more deeply our shared history. -Diane Lockward, author of The Crafty Poet A Portable Workshop Gail Fishman Gerwin weaves past and present into a song of affirmation. Skype, Facebook and email are as at home in these poems singing of the past as a lost emerald ring from childhood, a recollection of first love, or a cousin living in Israel. Each poem in Crowns is a gem in a treasure of warm memories that enrich us. Its wealth of connections reminds us of how memory itself sustains and enlightens because it evokes the tenderness of what ties us to those we love. These poems reach across time and around the world creating "a single warm coat on days that turn cold." -Michael T. Young, author of The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost Gail Fishman Gerwin leads her readers across a vast literary landscape of emotion and experience in her masterful collection, Crowns. Whether she is writing about growing up in Paterson or her times in faraway places such as Prague or Israel, she never loses sight of what it means to be in love with life. I am struck with her ability to find the universal in the personal and make critical discoveries through specific details. In the lovely title poem that concludes her book, Gerwin writes about opening boxes and finding "Treasures worth more per ounce than the price of gold." Readers will discover that also describes the poems that grace this collection. -Edwin Romond, author of Alone with Love Songs

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0692555625
• ISBN13: 9780692555620
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: Aldrich Press
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.2" x 6.0"