Two Very Different Books

I have just finished two books - Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk (translated into English) and - The Paris Apartment, by Lucy Foley. Tokarczuk’s book is a Nobel Prize winner, and Foley’s book is a New York Time’s best seller. Both are murder mysteries.

I see this as a chance to make a comparison between writers. For me, The Paris Apartment reads more like a young adult novel (even though it isn’t). It’s a quick read - but not a lot of depth. Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead has more character development and insight. The storytelling is colorful.

The Paris Apartment is definitely a choice of the public, whereas Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead is a choice of the critics. Which book would I recommend?  

Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead.  Hands down!

Tonight

Tonight

your eyes melt like the sun.

You lie awake

and find

a memory

repeating. Strung like

notes played.

Music

fragrant as

a summer moon.

(C) 2023 Jan Darrow

Photo: Pixabay

Poetry inspiration from Visual art.

Cape Cod Evening - Edward Hopper,  1939

Cape Cod Evening - A Poem

Evening silence

Emptied into secrets

Before he stepped outside.

She viewed tall grass

Through the window by seconds

Before moving past

The etched glass door.

Her arms folded into nothing 

As she remembered

What is was like to be young.

(C) 2021 Jan Darrow

New Poetry

A Margarita 

Light is too light. And dark is night.

Someone has drained all of your 

estrogen.  I mean sucked it all

OUT. Maybe in the middle of the night.

You start to shiver. But you’re not cold. 

Fact of the matter is you don’t know 

what you are but cold isn’t it.

Let’s just say you feel like screaming 

at no one in particular.

You feel mildly impaired until you realize

MILDLY doesn’t get it.

And then there’s the sweating. 

Let’s not even talk about that. 

It goes on forever and you say to yourself

you better get used to it. Or snap out of it.  

Or something. No one told you it was 

going to be like this. Like

you need your hormones back. ASAP.  

You need your old body back. But

No. You don’t feel like starting over.  

You feel like ditching and then realize 

that’s why they put hormones on a patch

that you stick on your skin. Like the colors

of a rainbow. Or the color of sky.  Like hugs.

You smile. You start to feel independent 

again. You calm down. A little.  Maybe this 

won’t be so bad after all. You feel like 

a Margarita. 

(C) 2023 Jan Darrow

photo: Pixabay

The Night Garden: Poems by Sandy Benitez

Sandy Benitez’s new book of poetry The Night Garden: Poems is mystical and yet haunting. A must read. Available on Amazon.  Yes I recommend!

Shadow Print

“Leaves”

Shadow Print

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Blossoms

sour channels 

rise

from flames

and leave darkness

to the wind

an original thought 

is ushered in

like new pink growth

from the under belly

of spring

(C) 2023 Jan Darrow

Beautiful Spring Blossoms!

 My garden is full of cherry blossoms!