Spotlight: I Asked the Wind - A Collection of Romantic Poetry by Valerie Nifora

 

There is no better day than Valentines Day, the day of love, to spotlight this beautiful collection of romantic poetry.

I have asked author Valerie Nifora to  share with The Burgeoning Bookshelf her favourite poems and what they mean to her.

I Asked the Wind: A Collection of Romantic Poetry

by

Valerie Nifora

Publisher: The Unapologetic Voice House LLC
Publication date: 3rd December 2019
Genre: Poetry
Pages: 108

Book Summary:

I Asked the Wind: A Collection of Romantic Poetry is a journey into romance, love and loss through poetry. The poems published in this collection span over 15 years of writing. Often starting with short rhythmic patterns, each poem’s lyrical tone is filled with inspired words to express the deep emotion experienced in the intricacies of romance.

Handwritten in a journal and hidden away until this publication, the poems chronicle the journey into and out of love. Written in three parts, the book enables the reader to transverse the intensity of romantic love, from the first moment of falling in love, to the intense pain of heartbreak.

Beautiful and powerful in its lyrical and simple verse, the reader is immediately immersed in a world of sensuality, passion, desire, and innocence; all woven together into a tapestry of human emotion. Each poem transports the reader to a story through the art of poetry. Drawing on natural elements such as the sun, sand, wind and moon, this collection explores the light and darkness of romantic love, leaving the reader questioning if love was ever real at all.

A selection of poems chosen by the author and why they have special meaning to her:

LET THE CLOCK HAND KEEP ITS TIME
Let the clock hand
Keep its time
Let its bell ring
Let it chime .
Let the moon face
Pass above
Let it watch us
Close, my love.
Let the darkness
Come and pass
Let it creep
Through window glass.
Let the seasons
Change and turn
Let them make
This hard earth yearn.
Let them all do
As they need
Mind them not
Pay no heed.
Let us stand here
Heart made whole
Bound together
As one soul.

I was listening to the ticking sound of the clock on the wall while I was writing this one. I was hoping to capture the sound of the metronome... methodical, perpetual, ceaseless ... It had been a long time since I had seen this person and it was painful. That sound... the counting the minutes until he arrived. So I thought, you know.. what if I turn that around and say that this love will outlast time? And this waiting is inconsequential.   

SWING ME ROUND
Swing me round
In this dance
Leave me breathless
In a trance
Let the laughter
Spin us still
Round and round
Against our will.
Let the light
Flash on by
To fill the darkness
In the sky
Let us fall
Still in embrace
To vanish slowly
Without a trace.             

This is one on my husband's favorite pieces. I wrote it for him. We had just started dating and I thought how much fun it would be to go to a square dance in a barn. The poor man! It was Halloween and I glimpsed over and saw him swinging a woman dressed as a cow and I thought to myself -- this man must really like me! I spent the entire evening enamored with his kindness and wonderful spirit, and I knew in my heart this was it. 

I LOVE YOU. ETERNAL.
I love you. Eternal.
Until time does cease.
For in your soul,
I have found,
Perfect peace.

This is how I start the collection. For me, that's what true love is about -- finding peace in another and knowing this is love. As Saint Thomas Aquinas once said, “Love is willing the good of the other.”

Praise for I Asked the Wind: A Collection of Romantic Poetry

“...a breathtaking compilation of tender poetry .“

- Jessica Tingling, The San Francisco Book Review

“Valerie’s poetry evokes images of tangled butterflies caught in a breeze, leaves falling too soon, and speaks with a deep, deep tenderness.”

– Troy Turner, Poet

“A beautiful tribute to reflective thoughts of love and losses suffered…this was well done… ”

– Wanda Firman-Cooper, Reviewer

“Valerie’s poems are not only magnificent to read, but they stick with you.”

– Robert Robinson, Executive Producer, The Dinner Salon

“In today’s age of fast-food thinking, attention-deficit scanning, and thumb scrolls past click-bait, it’s refreshing to find a relatable, digestible read that harkens back to an era of leather-bound literature’s reign in terms of meter and word choice.“

– Amaani F. Lyle, Military Journalist

“Val’s poetry goes deeper…into a mosaic of sensuality that leaves you hearing love as if it were a song.“

– Myra Jo Martino, Writers Guild Award Winner for Ugly Betty

About the Author, Valerie Nifora

Valerie Nifora was born and raised in New York to Greek immigrant parents. For over twenty years, Valerie was Marketing Communications Leader for a Fortune 50. She served as a ghost writer for several executives and has executed award-winning campaigns using her special gift as a storyteller to inspire. Her first book is a collection of romantic poetry that explores innocence, sensuality, passion, desire, heartbreak and loss through the lens of her personal experience spanning over 15 years. Her beautiful and powerful voice immediately calls forth a time of leather-bound books and invites the reader to find a comfortable chair and begin their journey through the powerful human emotion of love. Valerie holds a B.A. in Communications from Emerson College and an M.B.A. from Fordham University. She is married and a mother of two amazing sons.

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