Welcome to my podcast and for the remainder of the year I am sharing a selection of poetry and flash fiction including some Christmas and New Year themed recordings.
The Visitor and Missing.
The Visitor
A
surprise
visitor,
a ringed pigeon
weary and confused
blown off course by high winds
far away from his home loft.
Reassured by the other birds
feeding peacefully in this garden
he rests above on the roof of the house.
Familiar with the sounds of humans
he responds to the voice which calls him
and the shaking of a seed can.
His recovery is slow
but he becomes stronger
until finally
with two circuits
of the house
he heads
home.
Missing
Eunice loved her garden gnomes and each birthday her husband would buy her another for the collection. Then one July, her favourite, a right Jack the lad, with a red jacket and green trousers was stolen. She was heartbroken and even put up missing posters to no avail. Then the postcards started arriving from all over Europe. ‘Having great time, see you soon. Love Jack.’ Sure enough one morning in October, Eunice looked out the window to see him back in his usual place. Her husband smirked. ‘I see the students are back after their summer holidays my love!’
©Sally Cronin 2022
I found Sally Cronin’s Life Is Like a Bowl of Cherries: Sometimes Bitter, Sometimes Sweet (short stories and a sprinkling of poetry) to be a real pleasure to read–not a guilty pleasure but a pleasure to be celebrated and shared with other readers.
I particularly enjoyed how varied the collection is. From the opening story of an Artificial Intelligence nightmare in the grocery store to the closing story of a chance at love for a middle-aged woman always the florist, never the bride, I did not know what to expect next. Several of the stories include paranormal visitations. Cronin handles these visitations in a way that was entirely believable to me and, ultimately, comforting.
The primary themes of the stories are fate, love, loss, and kindness–and when kindness is egregiously lacking, revenge. The sprinkling of poetry focuses on love, family connections, and observations of animals. The standout poem for me was “The Visitor,” about “a ringed pigeon / weary and confused / blown off course by high winds.” How many of us have been there?
The collection even includes a haibun, “The Long Drop,” which takes a situation familiar to those of us who follow true crime shows–but in a brilliant twist adds a haiku. The combination of the microfiction and the haiku made my blood run cold.
The best way I can describe my experience of reading Life Is Like a Bowl of Cherries is that reading each story was like sitting down for a brief respite from the day’s troubles with a really good cup of coffee. When the story was finished, I could go on with my day refreshed–or indulge myself with another story.
Thank you for listening and if you would like to know more about my books and their reviews you can find them on my books page Sally’s Books and Reviews 2022
Smorgasbord Blog Magazine 