Mercurial Journeys

"After the tragic death of her daughter Hana andthe onset of MS later, the author''s art took on anethereal quality, swirling with light andemotions. Her poems, too, are infused with theenergy and movement that is lost to her. Theydance and soar to great heights, plummet into theabyss of despair, then, like her indomitablespirit, rise again to meet the new day."
-Joan Matchett, editor"Stania Slahor like the novelist Joseph Conrad,enjoys writing in her acquired tongue. Perhaps,their foreign beginnings give such people freshlook at English, which we who have spoken itfrom childhood can never attain."
-Dr. Leon Karel, Charlotte Herald NewsBoth haunting and beautiful, the poems in thiscollection reflect the life and family of eightyyear-old author Stania Slahor. Using her colorfulfamily and her personal experiences, Slahorwrites with a unique voice about a variety oftopics-from tributes to her grandparents andparents to writings inspired from tropicalexperiences in Mexico''s Yucatan.In the "The Mockingbird," readers can almosthear the mockingbird''s cry through Slahor''sdescriptive language: ". its burlesque laugh /penetrates the majestic stillness / of the wood''sgreen canopy / reaching to the sun . the vexingmockingbird / the incorrigible teaser / andtormented clown / the insatiable listener /struggles for his own genuine song / toovermaster his self-imposed mockery / a perfectmelodic tune ."Slahor''s writings prove that you don''t need to bean angel to fly.