#Blogtour Day 5 – My review of Feral Tenderness by Arthur Rosch

Uncategorized 2 Minutes

What Amazon says

A lifetime of poetry and photography gives a unique view of life, nature, the world, and the universe. 

My review

Feral Tenderness is an extraordinary collection of poems that strike right to the heart of human conditioning, frailty, and behaviours. Through reading these poems you will be removing the rosy coloured spectacles through which you have watched life until now, and will be exposed to the raw reality of human existence, both with its fatal flaws and also in its bountifulness and excesses.

The poet uses words to spear his reader and force contemplation of certain realities. There are unforgettable and powerful lines that will lurk in your subconscious to be drawn out and examined when you are confronted with certain emotions and situations. Some of my favourite of these lines are as follows:

“The glue that holds shut
the eyelids of your sightless soul
can be dissolved”
From Seeing is Believing

“You’re wasting time! You’re wasting your life
considering each step through the field.
Accept it. Any step could be your last.
Any choice could be wrong. How long will you
inspect the ground in front of you,
before you move? …
From The Minefield as a Metaphor for Life

My two favourite poems in this collection are both about love. What is, my love is followed by What isn’t love?

These are two short extracts from these two poems in order of appearance.

“My love is a hurt, and a rage and a yearning, it moves
through my body, sets my hands to learning the shape
beneath the shape, the tone beneath the tone, the
language of the bone, of subtlety and range, a way
of seeing the strange.”

“Staring into space at work,
while over and over you rehearse
something you must say to wound your lover.
Or having to replay
again and again throughout the day
some way that your lover wounded you.”

I read both of these poems several times and these particular lines set me to thinking about life and love for a long time.

There are also some beautiful photographs in between the poems, for the reader to enjoy and admire.

Purchase Feral Tenderness

Amazon US

About Arthur Rosch

Arthur Rosch is a mid-westerner, who became a Californian as a young man. A lover of jazz, poetry, painting and photography, and writing, as well as a passion for astronomy, photography, history, psychology and the weird puzzle of human experience. After receiving Playboy Magazine’s Best Short Story Award for a comic view of a planet where there are six genders, he was immersed in circles that could have taken him to the top, but it was short lived. Arthur found himself reeling, struggling with depression and addiction on the streets for almost a decade, and repairing and rediscovering himself was a defining event in his life, nurturing his literary soul. He is currently a certified Seniors Peer Counselor in Sonoma County, California. Come visit his blogs and photo sites. www.artrosch.com and http://bit.ly/2uyxZbv. 

Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

Published

28 thoughts on “#Blogtour Day 5 – My review of Feral Tenderness by Arthur Rosch”

  7. I can’t count the number of poetry and prose submissions I’ve made over the years. Many thousands, I’m sure. Hence, I’ve had many thousands of rejections. I’ve had some crucial acceptances, like Across The Margin and Exquisite Corpse. Each time I had one of those victories I waited for the avalanche of acclaim to pour down upon me. It never did. I’ve learned that a profound privacy accompanies being an artist. We may think we want applause but we really want understanding and connection.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    2. I expect that my poetry and prose rejections number in the thousands as well. You’re absolutely right that we what really want is understanding and connection. I’m so grateful that the internet has allowed readers who have made the connection with my work to reach out and let me know.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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