Expansive and sagacious… a beautiful collection
Smith beautifully explores love, longing, sadness, hope, and mortality in her debut, a short collection of poetry, pictures, and flash fiction pieces. In the utterly inspiring “The Wolf Within,” she infuses the emotions as well as objects with palpable life: “Through the brambles, / Through the thorns, / Through the nettles, / Through the fire, / I am running to you.” “The Lost Love” and “A Prayer” explores the sadness whereas “The Candle,” and “Hypnotic” are stirring and uplifting. It’s time that’s constant and yet varying throughout the collection, and Smith fuses present with past, creating a lingering nostalgia for the current moment and for the future. She beautifully creates poignant emotional textures in her flash fiction pieces (recalling old love, she writes: “It’s hard not to look back on you. / Some days that is all I can do, / I am glad you were mine for a little while.”). Profound and beautiful, this memorably sweet collection inspires readers to cherish all of their memories and emotions.
Personal Spirit
By Alexandra Smith
Pub date October 3, 2020
ISBN 979-8669309770
Price $7.76 (USD) paperback
