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Where Do Things Go?
[SECOND EDITION: ISBN: #978-0-9905262-4-7] ...offers fresh reflections on everyday life, expressed with humor, insight, and lyrical grace. In a conversational tone, Marcy takes on delight, death, beauty, and the ironies of living. Rediscover yourself in this poetic mirror for today’s adults, challenged by changing times. Her third poetry collection goes deeper and lighter at once and speaks to you in an engaging manner: spirited, sassy and sensitive. |
Praise for Where Do Things Go?
Named to Kirkus Reviews' "Best Books of 2016:"
"A powerful collection of poetry in which humor is tinged with sadness and grief is leavened with warmth.
In her third book of poetry, Heidish (Destined to Dance, 2012, etc.) experiments with punctuation, spacing, and the physical shape of texts. Most often, she writes in free verse as she reflects on her life as writer, poet, and instructor.
“The Hour of Blue” appears to convey the awkwardness of a new relationship with its averted eyes and shared silences, but the speaker turns out to be addressing a roster of unknown pupils before the start of a new semester. This clever rendering of the student-teacher dynamic is but one example of the author’s skill and creativity. Similarly, she’s able to evoke an entire life story in just a few words, as in “The Wizard,” which reveals the secret lurking behind the gruff exterior of a gifted repairman whose grey eyes are “paired nail-heads.”
Nevertheless, themes of mortality and loss are front and center as Heidish bears witness to the passage of time (“Let me be an old rock-wall in an Irish field”) and bids farewell to various people (her first editor, her oldest friend, a beloved aunt), places (a bookstore, a tearoom, a bakery), and things (her typewriter).
Two poems consider the healing effects of live music in medical settings. In “Up Near the Ceiling,” the playing of a harp in a hospice inspires this gorgeously consonant and assonant question about the spirits of the dying: “do they float on a lavender ocean, / foam-flecked and lit from far below?”
At the same time, not all poems focus on doom, gloom, and fading light. Heidish addresses more quotidian concerns, such as the impatience of a doctor’s waiting room, the indignities of summer, and the nature of hats. She also writes in the voice of a neglected pet fish and wonders how bears receive her discarded writings as they rifle through the garbage. A poem about a 60th birthday celebration features “all of those tiny candles, / studding a long barge of tiramisu,” and the speaker wryly calls for legislative action limiting the number of candles permitted by law, for the safety of us all.
Poems full of linguistic delights and keen emotion."
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"A powerful collection of poetry in which humor is tinged with sadness and grief is leavened with warmth.
In her third book of poetry, Heidish (Destined to Dance, 2012, etc.) experiments with punctuation, spacing, and the physical shape of texts. Most often, she writes in free verse as she reflects on her life as writer, poet, and instructor.
“The Hour of Blue” appears to convey the awkwardness of a new relationship with its averted eyes and shared silences, but the speaker turns out to be addressing a roster of unknown pupils before the start of a new semester. This clever rendering of the student-teacher dynamic is but one example of the author’s skill and creativity. Similarly, she’s able to evoke an entire life story in just a few words, as in “The Wizard,” which reveals the secret lurking behind the gruff exterior of a gifted repairman whose grey eyes are “paired nail-heads.”
Nevertheless, themes of mortality and loss are front and center as Heidish bears witness to the passage of time (“Let me be an old rock-wall in an Irish field”) and bids farewell to various people (her first editor, her oldest friend, a beloved aunt), places (a bookstore, a tearoom, a bakery), and things (her typewriter).
Two poems consider the healing effects of live music in medical settings. In “Up Near the Ceiling,” the playing of a harp in a hospice inspires this gorgeously consonant and assonant question about the spirits of the dying: “do they float on a lavender ocean, / foam-flecked and lit from far below?”
At the same time, not all poems focus on doom, gloom, and fading light. Heidish addresses more quotidian concerns, such as the impatience of a doctor’s waiting room, the indignities of summer, and the nature of hats. She also writes in the voice of a neglected pet fish and wonders how bears receive her discarded writings as they rifle through the garbage. A poem about a 60th birthday celebration features “all of those tiny candles, / studding a long barge of tiramisu,” and the speaker wryly calls for legislative action limiting the number of candles permitted by law, for the safety of us all.
Poems full of linguistic delights and keen emotion."
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- “Ms. Heidish’s poems are like little jewels, each with its own facets, depths, and colors, by turns sparkling, reflective, and pensive, set in a musical jewel box that sings with the poet’s heart.” — Tencha Avila., award-winning playwright.
- Poetry That Really Matters: How does she do it? Once again author Marcy Heidish takes you on a tour of your own psyche with her beguiling poetry. You can see yourself in the literary paintings she crafts, as if she knows exactly what you're thinking before you do. Where do the things in your life go? Your discarded keepsakes, your fantasies, your days. Things you've forgotten but somehow never leave you because these "things" shape who you are. Ms. Heidish does it with her elegant vocabulary and insight into what it means to be young, middle-aged, and, now, a bit older. Poignant, funny and profound at the same time, you will want Where Do Things Go? going right on your bookshelf so you can grab it when you need a little clarity on, as she describes it in the very first poem, "What Really Matters." — Kathy of Denver, Amazon Review.
- What a breath of fresh air! Often times I feel like submerging in intense poetry. Other times I want to read something lighter. Marcy Heidish has given me a wonderful spectrum of poetry to enjoy. She writes as though she is speaking to you in a perfect tone ranging from my favorite "In a Doctor's Waiting Room" in which I found myself laughing out loud to "The Surgeon." It seems Marcy Heidish has an infinite collection of ideas, and I am always delighted to read yet another book. — Sue Kennon, Amazon Review.
- Poems in memoir and not-memoir by a woman with fine sensitivity. Some poems make you smell the soil, feel the sacred ancientness and others float like butterflies. All of them will make you see. — Carol Huffman, Amazon Review.
- Awe in the midst of the ordinary: Truly awesome! With few words Ms. Heidish brings the reader into her space. Yes, I've been here before. I know exactly what you are talking about! A fine sense of humor and deep insight clears away the clutter. The eternal significance of an ordinary moment is revealed. Tears come to my eyes. — Nan by the Lake, Amazon Review