Wow! Wow! Wow! Thank you so very much! I am so overwhelmed that I really don’t know what to say. This review of my book "If There's No Heaven" by fellow writer, Lindsay Cass, is absolutely amazing and affirming:
"Early this morning I sat on the porch with my favorite mug of ceylon tea, enjoying the quiet and the stillness of the day. On the table next to me sat Barbara Marie Minney’s book of poems titled If There’s No Heaven. I picked it up and opened the cover, expecting to be moved in some way at some point, but this project became an odyssey of feelings, memories, and encouragements from the start. Barbara does a fantastic job of reeling in her readers with imagery, emotion, and subjects that her readers can relate to in their own lives. I’m glad I was able to take a journey with her, as I read through and absorbed each page; I enjoyed reading through her collection of poetry the way I enjoyed reading through the compilations from Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Whitman. I would like to highlight parts of her poem on page 20 titled “Bubble Wrap.” This is such a beautifully strong piece about self-esteem and self-acceptance; it was so personal and forthcoming with a style of emotion that is all her own. In her poem she writes: “the past is Never really the past especially the mistakes haunting the halls of my mind long after they were made or used like a war club beating myself to a bloody pulp being hard on myself does not make me a better person only more defeated” […] “I have gone Far beyond what my father Thought I could Doing my best Was never good enough Sometimes I dreamed Of being perfect But even that Is not enough” […] “I have found Not caring anymore To sometimes be liberating.” As I read through this poem, I couldn’t help but be reminded of moments in my own life where I craved acceptance from my mother but fell short. Who can’t say they yearn for acceptance? Who hasn’t, at one point or another, reached for the impossible when it comes to personal goals? Sometimes acceptance and peace come in the form of understanding that people’s opinions are not your truth, just an idea in someone else’s head that doesn’t define you. In my humble opinion If There’s No Heaven gets a 5-star rating. I promise you, you will go on an emotional journey through life, both Barbara’s and your own, as you turn each page."
"If There's No Heaven" is available at Poetry Is Life Publishing:
