Customer Reviews

Within Reach

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Having the unique opportunity to hear an author read their work allows one to learn some interesting background information, hear the way the author intends for the words to sound or to be stresssssssssssed. You can observe facial expressions and pauses and so much more when words are spoken while the eyes behold their tones. I had such an opportunity to meet and hear M.J. in person. Poetry is a personal thing and an art form. Poetry should be heard or read aloud and it should also, be read silently. Poetry's simplest definition from the Greek language is, "to do or to make." We all "do" or "make" something. We are in a sense, all poets. When it comes to language, poetry carries a heightened sense of, "beauty of speech." M.J.'s unique ability is to take so many common subjects familiar to many of us, things we see perhaps everyday, things we can each relate to and even things we feel, but perhaps never voice - and then she shares them with words that form pictures that take us there or take us back. The way M.J. gardens her words gives the reader a sense that you are in motion, on a journey through the landscapes of every poem. THEN, she often sets up an amazing contrast in her conclusions - unexpected, but perfectly fitting and balanced. She shares of hers and then when read, they become the reader's own. This book is simple enough for all to understand, but at the same time, it is full of layers or almost endless petals from a flower and then we find something spectacular, we were never looking to find! WE all search for beauty and sometimes it is overlooked or taken for granted. Sometimes we see no such beauty in something and walk by. M.J. will not allow you to miss a thing! This book proves that beauty is not skin deep. It is past the layers and lies within us each. M.J' words reflect and when read, the reader will reflect. Just a single poem 'Groundwork,' is worth the price of this incredible book. September 11 holds many memories for many of us. 'Groundwork' will remind, but it will also give something we all sought and may well be seeking - how do we rise from tragedy! I must confess that I did not buy this book - I took it away from my wife while she was reading some of the poems to me. I am a cover to cover reader - even the title page. I noticed that M.J. signed the book for my wife and put a line in pen through the words: 'Within Reach.' At first I wondered why? Then I looked at the beautiful almost touchable flower on the cover and understood. My wife reached out to this book. It is no longer 'Within Reach' when we make it it our own. Fantastic book - Great journey! I feel more beauty from within myself now, wanting to reflect. It is before you now to buy this book. It is for you, just - Within Reach

Dahni

M.J.Iuppa's latest collection of poems is both lyrical and accessible, something we have come to expect in all her writing, both poetry and prose. She writes about ordinary, everyday things (like bleach spots), her family, or small, interesting events (a crippled muskrat dragging itself along a road), but what distinguishes her work, is that she helps us to see these people, things, and events in new and profound ways. With a simple turn of language, she transforms the simple into the complex, the ho-hum into the extraordinary and she takes us along for the ride. Suddenly, we see our own lives in new ways. We think differently about routines and habits. See the universal in the commonplace.

How does she do this? According to M.J. herself, she is a "poet of place." Landscape, nature, and the world around her are critical to her work. But not just in the sense of locating or grounding her work in reality. For M.J., place itself is a kind of persona from which she views the world. She observes her surroundings in great detail, and sees the world from vastly different perspectives than most of us. Roads become living, organic reflections of the ups and downs in our journey through life. A family chore becomes a ritual of sharing and a reflection of love. An injured animal becomes a mentor for dealing with our own worn and broken lives

In a quiet, almost under-stated style, M.J.'s work unfolds like the petals of a flower, inviting the reader to explore its inner depths, taste its sweetness and spread its pollen into our own experiences and observations. Within Reach is a beautiful book--a work of art, a piece of music--that you will read and reread for its beauty, joyfulness, and hopeful optimism.