Sara M. Robinson

Sara M. Robinson included poems about growing up in the small town, Elkton, Virginia in her earlier anthology Two Little Girls in a Wading Pool. In Stones for Words she once again featured poems about growing up in that town, particularly in the poems titled Marshall Avenue with a season in 1954; "The Weightiness of Dreams;” "Just This Once, Another Once," and "Another Poem about Time," all of which I found especially enjoyable. Having lived in Charlottesville, Virginia, for over twenty-five years, I also particularly enjoyed poems with references to Charlottesville and its surrounding area including "Pieces of String Too Short to Save," and "Small Hotel by a Sea," The whole section of love poems, "What I Will Tell You" were my other favorites in this collection. Sara’s poems flow very nicely.… (plus d'informations)

This chapbook of poems about Alaska, primarily sailing on a cruise ship, dealt a lot with nature, and secondarily with natives to the area. I particularly enjoyed the poems which talked about cold waters -- I could feel the coldness -- and with the color blue. I'm glad that Sara wrote about man's undesirable impact on the glaciers and waters in "Glacial Recession" and towards the end of the poem "A Cruise in Rare Waters."

The poem, "On Being in the Wild Place" reminded me of riding on a narrow gauged train many years ago.… (plus d'informations)

Sara and I are personal friends. However, I bought this book of her poetry, and our friendship did not influence this review.

I really enjoyed this book of poetry. Sara and I both grew up in small towns in the 1950s, and have a number of experiences in common. Much of Sara's poetry in this collection is centered on her growing up in Elkton, Virginia, and includes poems about common life experiences such as hanging clothes on the line, playing with her friend in a wading pool, and working in her parents' shoe store. She also shares deeply personal experiences including her father's death and shopping for his casket. These poems brought back memories of my childhood and early adult life.

I was also impressed with the wide range of other topics Sara wrote about including anti-war poetry, nature, travel, and feminism.… (plus d'informations)