Reviews of Moonrise Press Books
Crystal Fire. Poems of Joy and Wisdom - Reviewed by Michael Escoubas in Quill & Parchment (April 2023)
Before launching into the poems themselves, I was blessed by Maja Trochimczyk’s two and one-half page preface. This personally revealing summary of her motivations for giving birth to Crystal Fire is indispensable reading. In it she explains her use of "Crystal," and "Fire," in the title. Don't pass over this enlightened writing. I also appreciated reading the extended biographies of each poet at the end of the volume. Each contributor offers a unique take on the subject matter, thus adding a touch of virtuosity to the whole.[...] The book is illustrated by the multi-talented Ambika Talwar. One of her works precedes each featured poet’s contribution. I mentioned earlier that growing in Joy and Wisdom requires slowing down, taking a pause. Ambika’s paintings play a key role … they whisper Joy. Here is an example entitled “Quiet Rainfall”: [...]
While Trochimczyk’s goal, as editor, is not an ideal coordination between paintings and poems, the paintings do set a mindfulness tone as readers step into each section. [...] Frederick Livingston’s “Rainbows Dreaming,” brought me up short with a touch of Wisdom I had not considered before. [...] As I reflected on Ambika’s painting, paired with Marlene Hitt’s poems, something struck me: Painters and poets share similar concerns, namely, bringing Nature’s message of beauty and spirituality alive in people’s hearts. Da Vinci said it, Poets paint pictures with words; artists write poetry without words. [...] In an age of vitriolic talk, of political and moral uncertainty, amid the dark clouds of Covid-19, Crystal Fire draws back the curtain on Love, Joy and yes, Wisdom. As art and poetry work together, I’ve come to an ever-deeper appreciation of Wallace Stevens’ very practical saying, “Poetry [and painting] a response to the daily necessity of getting the world right.” I can’t help thinking that Maja Trochimczyk, Ambika Talwar, and the talented contributors to Crystal Fire, would agree.
While Trochimczyk’s goal, as editor, is not an ideal coordination between paintings and poems, the paintings do set a mindfulness tone as readers step into each section. [...] Frederick Livingston’s “Rainbows Dreaming,” brought me up short with a touch of Wisdom I had not considered before. [...] As I reflected on Ambika’s painting, paired with Marlene Hitt’s poems, something struck me: Painters and poets share similar concerns, namely, bringing Nature’s message of beauty and spirituality alive in people’s hearts. Da Vinci said it, Poets paint pictures with words; artists write poetry without words. [...] In an age of vitriolic talk, of political and moral uncertainty, amid the dark clouds of Covid-19, Crystal Fire draws back the curtain on Love, Joy and yes, Wisdom. As art and poetry work together, I’ve come to an ever-deeper appreciation of Wallace Stevens’ very practical saying, “Poetry [and painting] a response to the daily necessity of getting the world right.” I can’t help thinking that Maja Trochimczyk, Ambika Talwar, and the talented contributors to Crystal Fire, would agree.
Michael Escoubas Reviews Bright Skies by Maja Trochimczyk in Quill & Parchment (February 2023)
Bright Skies. Selected Poems by Maja Trochimczyk, published in May 2022 continues to attract positive attention and praise. Michael Escoubas, in a February 2023 review in online journal Quill and Parchment complimented the poet's idea of writing a book for her two new granddaughters, to read when they grow up and wrote: "Moonrise Press has produced Bright Skies on high quality stock, perfect for reproducing fine typography and full-color artwork. Featuring seasonal transitions supported by landscape and botanical imagery, Bright Skies rewarded me with each turn of the page. Wallace Stevens, among the premier poets of the last century has written, “The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself.” Bright Skies is structured, whether consciously or not, with Stevens’ dictum in mind. Trochimczyk quite literally offers “her” world in word and image. [...] Maja Trochimczyk asserts “I am a positive poet.” She means that she looks for and finds the good in life: good in family, good in faith, good in nature and the world. How refreshing, this infusion of light, in a world that oftentimes seems dominated by bad news. For Trochimczyk, the world is beautiful and has value. She highlights a world that is worth redeeming. While acknowledging the flawed nature of existence, she does not “live” there. She dwells in light.[...] Trochimczyk’s body of work bears witness to a mature writing style which uses all the tools in a poet’s toolbox. Most importantly, however, is the mind and heart from which her poems spring. Her substantive ideas are accessible."
Artist Susan Dobay praises "Bright Skies" by Maja Trochimczyk (November 2022)
"Bright Skies poems has the highest intensity expressed in an enjoyable poetic, artistic way. From Bright Skies poetry I am learning to listen to nature with an open mind and heart. The poems of Bright Skies are pointing to a higher awareness level while giving an utmost ecstatic pleasure to the senses. The simultaneous expression of biological love making and spiritual love are in perfect harmony. Maja’s poems are stimulation, Inspiration to listen to the essence of nature. Her poetry creates harmony in the heart. The colorful photos are expressing visually the richness of the poems."
~ Susan Dobay, Hungarian-American artist and philosopher of art
PHOTO: Maja Trochimczyk and Susan Dobay at Scenic Drive Gallary 11.2022
~ Susan Dobay, Hungarian-American artist and philosopher of art
PHOTO: Maja Trochimczyk and Susan Dobay at Scenic Drive Gallary 11.2022
William Scott Galasso Reviews "Bright Skies" by Maja Trochimczyk in CSPS Poetry Letter No. 3, 2022
85 Poems, 184 pp, Moonrise, 2022, ISBN 978-49-8, color paperback, ISBN 978-1-945938-52-8, e-book
In these uncertain times when the world wobbles on its axis between pandemics, climate change and war, taxing our ability to cope; Maja Trochimczyk (editor of the California Quarterly), presents us with her antidote, Bright Skies, Selected Poems. The book is divided in to five sections: Spring, Summer, Babie Lato (Indian Summer in Polish), Autumn and Winter. She created this generous volume (her ninth) as a gift to her children, grandchildren and for those of readers fortunate to read it. Every poem celebrates the incomparable beauty, diversity and healing power of nature--giving us reason for hope. In her first poem, A Spring Revelation, she declares
“I love my mountains
blue and spring green, still
under clear azure expanse.
Their velvet pleats pile up
in layers above the valley rocks,
pathways in empty riverbed.”
In the second poem, Only in California, “the desert is rich with the noise of our ghost river.” In Spring Cleaning, our avid gardener reveals:
This morning, I declawed the cactus […]
I cleaned out the pantry, sorted out
one bookshelf and my past
carefully discarding useless fears
and fading disappointments […]
I arranged my thoughts
into a singular clarity of purpose.[…]
Now, I only have to breathe in
hot noon light, to set old pain,
anger and resentment on fire,
expel the ashes in a shower of sparks
with diamond rays so brilliant,
they make me into a supernova
a revelation, cosmic, bright—"
That’s healing. In addition, she compliments her literary art with a visual artist’s eye for light, color, shape in the
exquisite detail of her photography. The photographs on glossy paper present in minute detail every subject she turns her attention to. Further, her knowledge of local flora and fauna verges on the encyclopaedic, presenting us with an abundance of riches, which inform her life and work, writing poetry is like growing artichokes from a seed of invention.
Whether one perceives dewdrops on a rose, the wind swirl of a kite in cerulean skies or, an incoming wave bursting from a turquoise sea, one is moved and that’s the point. She presents all five senses and dares you to fully engage—and to be moved. “Look ahead—Look up— Look / inside—we are alive” for these are Diamond Days in Crystal Gardens. In addition, Ms. Trochimczyk makes clear that all we treasure is in danger. She admonishes us to recognize that in man’s pursuit of short-term profit, we may likely lose the Eden we cherish. Not by the will of God but by our own reckless behavior towards the mother that bore us. In the Tale of the Hare…, “his presence tames my heart—a gift from Gaia / for theses hard times of the plague of hatred and distress,” and from Drink of Water, “I don’t want my resident raccoon to be shot /with the black, dead-looking gun.“ No, what Maja clearly wants is the taste of honey from bees, the song of birds and the inspiration of their flight, the colors of fall in full regalia and the quiet of winter in its dreaming sleep. What she depicts in every poem is a desire for harmony and light, unity of purpose.
Yet, Maja’s celebration of life is not confined to nature alone, but to the love of one human being for another whether that person is one’s spouse, son, daughter or grandchild, or simply a dear friend—a member of her chosen family. She celebrates with equal joy the gifts of body and spirit, rejoicing in the holidays that bring people together. One of my favorite poems is Your Rainbow, which I see is both a collection of images and a metaphor for gratitude. Here are a few lines addressing that rainbow,
“You are a rainbow of endless Light
You are a fountain of boundless Love
You are a red ruby of life
You are a pure amber of creation
You are a new gold of strength
You are a green emerald of affection
You are a blue sapphire of truth
You are a clear amethyst of perception”
Finally, and I won’t give it away, there is a coda…don’t miss a page. This work is a feast for mind and spirit as close as your garden, eternal as stars. Recommended! ~ William Scott Galasso
In these uncertain times when the world wobbles on its axis between pandemics, climate change and war, taxing our ability to cope; Maja Trochimczyk (editor of the California Quarterly), presents us with her antidote, Bright Skies, Selected Poems. The book is divided in to five sections: Spring, Summer, Babie Lato (Indian Summer in Polish), Autumn and Winter. She created this generous volume (her ninth) as a gift to her children, grandchildren and for those of readers fortunate to read it. Every poem celebrates the incomparable beauty, diversity and healing power of nature--giving us reason for hope. In her first poem, A Spring Revelation, she declares
“I love my mountains
blue and spring green, still
under clear azure expanse.
Their velvet pleats pile up
in layers above the valley rocks,
pathways in empty riverbed.”
In the second poem, Only in California, “the desert is rich with the noise of our ghost river.” In Spring Cleaning, our avid gardener reveals:
This morning, I declawed the cactus […]
I cleaned out the pantry, sorted out
one bookshelf and my past
carefully discarding useless fears
and fading disappointments […]
I arranged my thoughts
into a singular clarity of purpose.[…]
Now, I only have to breathe in
hot noon light, to set old pain,
anger and resentment on fire,
expel the ashes in a shower of sparks
with diamond rays so brilliant,
they make me into a supernova
a revelation, cosmic, bright—"
That’s healing. In addition, she compliments her literary art with a visual artist’s eye for light, color, shape in the
exquisite detail of her photography. The photographs on glossy paper present in minute detail every subject she turns her attention to. Further, her knowledge of local flora and fauna verges on the encyclopaedic, presenting us with an abundance of riches, which inform her life and work, writing poetry is like growing artichokes from a seed of invention.
Whether one perceives dewdrops on a rose, the wind swirl of a kite in cerulean skies or, an incoming wave bursting from a turquoise sea, one is moved and that’s the point. She presents all five senses and dares you to fully engage—and to be moved. “Look ahead—Look up— Look / inside—we are alive” for these are Diamond Days in Crystal Gardens. In addition, Ms. Trochimczyk makes clear that all we treasure is in danger. She admonishes us to recognize that in man’s pursuit of short-term profit, we may likely lose the Eden we cherish. Not by the will of God but by our own reckless behavior towards the mother that bore us. In the Tale of the Hare…, “his presence tames my heart—a gift from Gaia / for theses hard times of the plague of hatred and distress,” and from Drink of Water, “I don’t want my resident raccoon to be shot /with the black, dead-looking gun.“ No, what Maja clearly wants is the taste of honey from bees, the song of birds and the inspiration of their flight, the colors of fall in full regalia and the quiet of winter in its dreaming sleep. What she depicts in every poem is a desire for harmony and light, unity of purpose.
Yet, Maja’s celebration of life is not confined to nature alone, but to the love of one human being for another whether that person is one’s spouse, son, daughter or grandchild, or simply a dear friend—a member of her chosen family. She celebrates with equal joy the gifts of body and spirit, rejoicing in the holidays that bring people together. One of my favorite poems is Your Rainbow, which I see is both a collection of images and a metaphor for gratitude. Here are a few lines addressing that rainbow,
“You are a rainbow of endless Light
You are a fountain of boundless Love
You are a red ruby of life
You are a pure amber of creation
You are a new gold of strength
You are a green emerald of affection
You are a blue sapphire of truth
You are a clear amethyst of perception”
Finally, and I won’t give it away, there is a coda…don’t miss a page. This work is a feast for mind and spirit as close as your garden, eternal as stars. Recommended! ~ William Scott Galasso
Michael Paul Hogan Praises "Today in the Forest" by Cindy Rinne (poems) and Toti O'Brien (art)
Book Review by Michael Paul Hogan, in London Grip Poetry Review online, November 2022: https://londongrip.co.uk/2022/11/london-grip-poetry-review-cindy-rinne
Michael Paul Hogan writes: "Is it possible to create a myth? Or should they evolve out of some remote and unrecorded past, only gaining the concrete legitimacy of words when they have been refined and expanded over centuries of oral transmutation? Does poetry represent a myth’s end in the sense that the myth is now completed? That it can no longer be told in many versions, but now must be read as a single unified work? [...]
The genius of Cindy Rinne (greatly aided by the genius of her illustrator, Toti O’Brien) is that she has managed to sidestep these questions by not exactly creating a myth, but presenting us with the fragments of a myth, one that might have been developed orally then been crystallised by poets, but now resembles the shards of pottery and pieces of fresco from which an archaeologist might recreate the kingdom of Sparta or the city of Troy. The myth, she seems to say, has been forgotten, buried under a heap of modern imagery; from these fragments I now present to you, you must recreate the myth for yourself. [...]
Ultimately, Today in the Forest defies any kind of conventional revue. The text is like trying to negotiate an entirely blacked-out village by the occasional flash of lightning; the illustrations need to be seen to be appreciated; the effect of the combination of the two must, therefore, be taken on trust. I can only conclude by saying that Cindy Rinne and Toti O’Brien have between them created a small masterpiece. It deserves all the success I hope it achieves. [...] Read more about Today in the Forest.
Michael Paul Hogan writes: "Is it possible to create a myth? Or should they evolve out of some remote and unrecorded past, only gaining the concrete legitimacy of words when they have been refined and expanded over centuries of oral transmutation? Does poetry represent a myth’s end in the sense that the myth is now completed? That it can no longer be told in many versions, but now must be read as a single unified work? [...]
The genius of Cindy Rinne (greatly aided by the genius of her illustrator, Toti O’Brien) is that she has managed to sidestep these questions by not exactly creating a myth, but presenting us with the fragments of a myth, one that might have been developed orally then been crystallised by poets, but now resembles the shards of pottery and pieces of fresco from which an archaeologist might recreate the kingdom of Sparta or the city of Troy. The myth, she seems to say, has been forgotten, buried under a heap of modern imagery; from these fragments I now present to you, you must recreate the myth for yourself. [...]
Ultimately, Today in the Forest defies any kind of conventional revue. The text is like trying to negotiate an entirely blacked-out village by the occasional flash of lightning; the illustrations need to be seen to be appreciated; the effect of the combination of the two must, therefore, be taken on trust. I can only conclude by saying that Cindy Rinne and Toti O’Brien have between them created a small masterpiece. It deserves all the success I hope it achieves. [...] Read more about Today in the Forest.
Michael Escoubas reviews "We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology" in CSPS Poetry Letter No. 3, 2021
We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology, eds: Maja Trochimczyk and Marlene Hitt. 290 pages (xxvi pp. + 264 pp.) 237 Poems + Biographies. 6’’ x 9” ~ Perfect Bound. $22.00 Paperback ~ $10.00 eBook. Moonrise Press. ISBN: 978-1-945938-39-9 (Paperback)
http://www.moonrisepress.com/village-poets-anthology.html
In the 1950s my parents took my brothers and me to a science fiction thriller entitled, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Such movies were the “in-thing” at the time. For three impressionable grade-school boys, the whole thing was pretty scary. As our parents came into our bedroom to say evening prayers with us, they sensed our upset. Leaving the room, they touched our hands saying, “We are here, nothing bad is going to happen to you.” Eventually, we got over our fright. I thought about their words as I worked my way through the poems collected by editors Trochimczyk and Hitt. We Are Here, resonates with me on two levels. For over a decade Village Poets of the Sunland-Tujunga community have borne witness to Californians about the magic of poetry. They organize poetry readings, write poetry, and publish books keeping the art and craft of poetry alive for generations yet unborn. On another level, I found myself taking notes on those poems which spoke to me as my parents did long ago. We are Here, became for me, a series of windows which nourish my life here and now.
Organization. The volume is attractively organized under two headings: Part 1. Featured and Guest Poets; Part 2. Poets Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. Contributor’s names appear in all-caps followed by their poems on successive pages. With some 80 participating poets, the designers have done a masterful job of pagination for optimal aesthetic appeal. At the end, each contributor is featured with an interesting biographical sketch.
Craftsmanship. If the pure love of poetry is your thing, We Are Here, will not disappoint. The Village Poets use virtually every poetic device in their well-stocked toolkits: end-rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, prose poems, wild and exciting indentations such as Peggy Dobreer’s “Exquisite Harmonics.” There are metaphorical connections, which had me smiling with Ah! Ha! moments all the way through. In addition, I was impressed with both the complexity of some creations as well as many poems which featured simplicity on the page. Bill Cushing gets a lot done with his poem:
Pelicans
Slowly circling,
the pelican
drops like a stone
into water.
Then climbing the
air, he stops, and
with a single
motion of wings,
glides on the wind.
Thankful for the ride, I reluctantly dismounted! We Are Here—Opening Windows to Life. Christopher Askew opened a window to outer and inner “place” in this excerpt from “There Is a Place”:
there is a place
where sun and wind collide
with towering fortresses of rock and cloud
where time and rivers flowing
carve in ruddy plans deep spaces
vast and clear
in one such deep a hollow curves
a dimple in the palm of God
Humor is a delightful window opened by Beth Baird in “Ode to a Temporary Relationship”:
You documented my existence
We took photos capturing moments
From our 753 days together
For this and more, I THANK YOU!!
But now you lie in state
I felt your energy slipping away
You could not hold your charge any longer
The poem goes on to reveal the poem’s true
subject . . . don’t miss out on this one!
An impressive range of subject-matter and depth of thought are revealed by interesting titles: Madeleine Swift Butcher’s “What She Cries,” treats the very personal theme of parental disappointment, Butcher, “carries her mother on her back.” Educator, Don Kingfisher Campbell’s poem “Showing a DVD on the Galapagos to a Ninth Grade Class,” is irresistible in its showcasing of diffident students. Jerry Garcia invited me along, “While Walking the Dog Last Evening.” You won’t believe where this poem takes you. Another title, “The Magic of Mom,” held me at gunpoint:
Oh, MOM, your name’s a palindrome;
it’s letters they form that.
It reads MOM going to the right.
From left? It reads MOM back!
Dependable that MOM word is,
in quality so true.
The YOU we always do count on,
Today, you get your due!
Three hundred sixty-five the days,
just one we celebrate.
We ought to celebrate you more;
perhaps a weekly fete?
A magic MOM in ambigram,
so please, do take a bow!
For even more– –just flip that name,
And MOM turns into WOW!
In each of these poems and many more, I came because of the title; I stayed because of the content. Windows opened by the Poets Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. First off, I was struck by the interesting history of former and current poets-laureate. This section features photos, brief biographies, and selected poems by each. Marlene Hitt’s “Arrival,” displays tender pathos as she anticipates the return home of her first-born son. “I will open my arms / to you, my firstborn child / so long traveling.” Katerina Canyon’s “Feet,” is a riveting poem that took me to places, times, and memories that surprised me all the way through. Wherever I looked among these poems, the windows I opened never failed to nourish my life-sensibilities, adding to my life the fresh air of love and wisdom. Maja Trochimczyk’s “What I Love in Sunland,” provides ample proof:
1. The strong arms of the mountains
embracing, protecting our town
2. The lights scattered in the night valley
during my drive to the safety of home
3. How clouds sit on the hilltops
squishing them with their fat bottoms
4. The river playing hide-and-go-seek under the bridge
to nowhere: “now you see me—now you don’t”
5. The towering white glory of yucca flowers in June--
we are Lilliputians in the giants’ country
6. The Mockingbird’s melodies floating above
red-roofed houses asleep on little sunny streets
7. Armenian fruit tarts sweeter than fresh grapefruit
and pomegranate from my trees
8. Hot, shimmering air, scented with safe and star jasmine,
carved by the hummingbird’s wings
9. The rainbow of roses, always blooming
in my secret garden
It is little wonder that the Village Poets have served their community and the larger world of letters with singular distinction.
http://www.moonrisepress.com/village-poets-anthology.html
In the 1950s my parents took my brothers and me to a science fiction thriller entitled, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Such movies were the “in-thing” at the time. For three impressionable grade-school boys, the whole thing was pretty scary. As our parents came into our bedroom to say evening prayers with us, they sensed our upset. Leaving the room, they touched our hands saying, “We are here, nothing bad is going to happen to you.” Eventually, we got over our fright. I thought about their words as I worked my way through the poems collected by editors Trochimczyk and Hitt. We Are Here, resonates with me on two levels. For over a decade Village Poets of the Sunland-Tujunga community have borne witness to Californians about the magic of poetry. They organize poetry readings, write poetry, and publish books keeping the art and craft of poetry alive for generations yet unborn. On another level, I found myself taking notes on those poems which spoke to me as my parents did long ago. We are Here, became for me, a series of windows which nourish my life here and now.
Organization. The volume is attractively organized under two headings: Part 1. Featured and Guest Poets; Part 2. Poets Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. Contributor’s names appear in all-caps followed by their poems on successive pages. With some 80 participating poets, the designers have done a masterful job of pagination for optimal aesthetic appeal. At the end, each contributor is featured with an interesting biographical sketch.
Craftsmanship. If the pure love of poetry is your thing, We Are Here, will not disappoint. The Village Poets use virtually every poetic device in their well-stocked toolkits: end-rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, prose poems, wild and exciting indentations such as Peggy Dobreer’s “Exquisite Harmonics.” There are metaphorical connections, which had me smiling with Ah! Ha! moments all the way through. In addition, I was impressed with both the complexity of some creations as well as many poems which featured simplicity on the page. Bill Cushing gets a lot done with his poem:
Pelicans
Slowly circling,
the pelican
drops like a stone
into water.
Then climbing the
air, he stops, and
with a single
motion of wings,
glides on the wind.
Thankful for the ride, I reluctantly dismounted! We Are Here—Opening Windows to Life. Christopher Askew opened a window to outer and inner “place” in this excerpt from “There Is a Place”:
there is a place
where sun and wind collide
with towering fortresses of rock and cloud
where time and rivers flowing
carve in ruddy plans deep spaces
vast and clear
in one such deep a hollow curves
a dimple in the palm of God
Humor is a delightful window opened by Beth Baird in “Ode to a Temporary Relationship”:
You documented my existence
We took photos capturing moments
From our 753 days together
For this and more, I THANK YOU!!
But now you lie in state
I felt your energy slipping away
You could not hold your charge any longer
The poem goes on to reveal the poem’s true
subject . . . don’t miss out on this one!
An impressive range of subject-matter and depth of thought are revealed by interesting titles: Madeleine Swift Butcher’s “What She Cries,” treats the very personal theme of parental disappointment, Butcher, “carries her mother on her back.” Educator, Don Kingfisher Campbell’s poem “Showing a DVD on the Galapagos to a Ninth Grade Class,” is irresistible in its showcasing of diffident students. Jerry Garcia invited me along, “While Walking the Dog Last Evening.” You won’t believe where this poem takes you. Another title, “The Magic of Mom,” held me at gunpoint:
Oh, MOM, your name’s a palindrome;
it’s letters they form that.
It reads MOM going to the right.
From left? It reads MOM back!
Dependable that MOM word is,
in quality so true.
The YOU we always do count on,
Today, you get your due!
Three hundred sixty-five the days,
just one we celebrate.
We ought to celebrate you more;
perhaps a weekly fete?
A magic MOM in ambigram,
so please, do take a bow!
For even more– –just flip that name,
And MOM turns into WOW!
In each of these poems and many more, I came because of the title; I stayed because of the content. Windows opened by the Poets Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. First off, I was struck by the interesting history of former and current poets-laureate. This section features photos, brief biographies, and selected poems by each. Marlene Hitt’s “Arrival,” displays tender pathos as she anticipates the return home of her first-born son. “I will open my arms / to you, my firstborn child / so long traveling.” Katerina Canyon’s “Feet,” is a riveting poem that took me to places, times, and memories that surprised me all the way through. Wherever I looked among these poems, the windows I opened never failed to nourish my life-sensibilities, adding to my life the fresh air of love and wisdom. Maja Trochimczyk’s “What I Love in Sunland,” provides ample proof:
1. The strong arms of the mountains
embracing, protecting our town
2. The lights scattered in the night valley
during my drive to the safety of home
3. How clouds sit on the hilltops
squishing them with their fat bottoms
4. The river playing hide-and-go-seek under the bridge
to nowhere: “now you see me—now you don’t”
5. The towering white glory of yucca flowers in June--
we are Lilliputians in the giants’ country
6. The Mockingbird’s melodies floating above
red-roofed houses asleep on little sunny streets
7. Armenian fruit tarts sweeter than fresh grapefruit
and pomegranate from my trees
8. Hot, shimmering air, scented with safe and star jasmine,
carved by the hummingbird’s wings
9. The rainbow of roses, always blooming
in my secret garden
It is little wonder that the Village Poets have served their community and the larger world of letters with singular distinction.
About The Maska Dramatic Circle by Phyllis Zych Budka (May 2016)
Published in May 2016, The Maska Dramatic Circle: Polish American Theater in Schenectady, New York (1933-1942) is available in large paperback and PDF formats.
ISBN 978-0-9963981-4-5 (paperback), $30, x plus 254 pages
ISBN 978-0-9963981-5-2 (eBook – PDF format), $10 download
RECOMMENDATIONS:
"If we are to have a more complete and nuanced history of Polonia we need more local based sources like the one published by Phyllis Zych Budka. Her focus is the Polish American community in Schenectady, N.Y., a midsized industrial city where she grew up and which does not receive much attention from Polonian historians. Based primarily on her parents’ scrap book and Polish and English newspapers, it records the amazing theatrical and cultural achievements of the “Maska Dramatic Club of Schenectady,” which from 1933 to 1942 produced more than 50 plays in Polish and, in the process, enriched the lives of Polish immigrants and their children."
~ Dr. Thaddeus V. Gromada, Professor Emeritus of East European History and Past President of PIASA and Polish American Historical Association (PAHA)
______________________________
"Phyllis Zych Budka has provided an account of the young, third-generation Polish-Americans of Schenectady, N.Y. who organized a drama group (Maska) that offered both Polish and Polish-American themed plays in the Polish language. Maska began offering plays to the community in the early 1930s and had a successful run for a decade. At a time when they were fast assimilating into the larger American society, these young people sought to preserve Polish culture and to demonstrate its relevance to the contemporary lives of both the immigrant generation and to their children."
~ Robert R. Pascucci, Ph.D., author of Electric City Immigrants: Italians and Poles of Schenectady, N.Y., 1880-1930
_____________________________
"I will be forever grateful to Phyllis for telling the story of my dad's life before I was born. As a kid, I knew my dad was well-read with a great vocabulary. He read books to me, stepping into character roles, inflecting his voice or changing his accent to portray Tom Sawyer, Ivanhoe, or other characters in the stories. I never knew how he learned these skills, he was just my dad. I also remember him telling about hard times during the Great Depression riding the rails in search of work. I wondered about the story behind the photographs of actors on stage of which he was a part. Now, thanks to Phyllis, I know more about his quote about "the happy days" of his participation in the troupe, the fun he had and the awards he won." ~ Joseph Drapala
ISBN 978-0-9963981-4-5 (paperback), $30, x plus 254 pages
ISBN 978-0-9963981-5-2 (eBook – PDF format), $10 download
RECOMMENDATIONS:
"If we are to have a more complete and nuanced history of Polonia we need more local based sources like the one published by Phyllis Zych Budka. Her focus is the Polish American community in Schenectady, N.Y., a midsized industrial city where she grew up and which does not receive much attention from Polonian historians. Based primarily on her parents’ scrap book and Polish and English newspapers, it records the amazing theatrical and cultural achievements of the “Maska Dramatic Club of Schenectady,” which from 1933 to 1942 produced more than 50 plays in Polish and, in the process, enriched the lives of Polish immigrants and their children."
~ Dr. Thaddeus V. Gromada, Professor Emeritus of East European History and Past President of PIASA and Polish American Historical Association (PAHA)
______________________________
"Phyllis Zych Budka has provided an account of the young, third-generation Polish-Americans of Schenectady, N.Y. who organized a drama group (Maska) that offered both Polish and Polish-American themed plays in the Polish language. Maska began offering plays to the community in the early 1930s and had a successful run for a decade. At a time when they were fast assimilating into the larger American society, these young people sought to preserve Polish culture and to demonstrate its relevance to the contemporary lives of both the immigrant generation and to their children."
~ Robert R. Pascucci, Ph.D., author of Electric City Immigrants: Italians and Poles of Schenectady, N.Y., 1880-1930
_____________________________
"I will be forever grateful to Phyllis for telling the story of my dad's life before I was born. As a kid, I knew my dad was well-read with a great vocabulary. He read books to me, stepping into character roles, inflecting his voice or changing his accent to portray Tom Sawyer, Ivanhoe, or other characters in the stories. I never knew how he learned these skills, he was just my dad. I also remember him telling about hard times during the Great Depression riding the rails in search of work. I wondered about the story behind the photographs of actors on stage of which he was a part. Now, thanks to Phyllis, I know more about his quote about "the happy days" of his participation in the troupe, the fun he had and the awards he won." ~ Joseph Drapala
______________________________________________________________________________________
Grazyna Kozaczka About Meditations on Divine Names in the Polish Review (December 2013)
Meditations on Divine Names offers rich poetic material selected and collected with great sensitivity, by an editor for whom religious belief was not a given, but rather the result of conscious search. Its 140 poems by sixty-four authors represent a variety of religious faiths. The title of this anthology points to some crucial concepts. In several world mythologies, the act of naming, the act that involves language, takes on the power of creation. One can certainly find parallels here with poetic acts of creation. Likewise, many of the poems chosen by Trochimczyk represent thoughtful meditations, prayers or thoughtful incantations that allow the reader a total immersion in the spiritual and move the reader to the emotional response to, and relationship with, the divine.”
Grazyna Kozaczka in The Polish Review, vol. 58 no. 4 (2013): 109.
Meditations on Divine Names - An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry edited by Maja Trochimczyk, published in July 2012. ISBN 978-0-9819693-8-1 Buy it Now ($21)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Grazyna Kozaczka in The Polish Review, vol. 58 no. 4 (2013): 109.
Meditations on Divine Names - An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry edited by Maja Trochimczyk, published in July 2012. ISBN 978-0-9819693-8-1 Buy it Now ($21)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Poet Sharon Chmielarz Recommends Meditations on Divine Names (December 2012)
"The anthology "Meditations on Divine Names" has something for everyone. Maybe it's due to the broad sweep of its title and the way the book is structured, easy access to themes: water, being, loving, She, He, fire, earth, air, names, naming. Maybe it's due to the unending number of names humans have assigned to the Godhead, many listed in G. Bennett Humphrey's poem. And maybe it's due to the editor, Maja Trochimczyk, a self-proclaimed Catholic mystic and usher in her parish. Her heart is open to all intimations of spirituality, not excluding the Nones'. For whatever reason, these poets have responded from their own hopes, often poignantly wry, and their experience in all faiths and religions, enhancing belief with the powers of imagination and Earth's beauty. Poets tend to be compulsive in their writing; they circle here, non-ending, the mysteries of antiquity and truth."
~ Sharon Chmielarz, author of Calling, Visibility - Ten Miles, and other books of poetry (December 2012)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
~ Sharon Chmielarz, author of Calling, Visibility - Ten Miles, and other books of poetry (December 2012)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Grazyna Kozaczka About the Chopin with Cherries Anthology in the Polish Review (December 2013)
"The book's striking title brings the reader to Trochimczyk's own poem, "A Study with Cherries," where the musical motifs of one of Chopin's etudes transport the poet across space and time to the cherry orchard of her grandparents in Poland and offer her peace and fulfillment.... In Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse, just a glance at the chapter headings identifies the poetic interests in Chopin. Thus poets find inspiration in a particular musical genre such as waltzes, mazurkas, or nocturnes; they become fascinated by Chopin's life, illness, and death, and his relationship to George Sand; and, finally, they explore their own emotional responses to hearing or playing Chopin's music...."
The reviewer was equally fascinated with visual illustrations from vintage postcards, revealing late 19th-century sensibilities associated with Chopin's music and its expressive world:
"Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse is also rich visually since it is illustrated with many examples of postcards thematically linked to Chopin and his life from Trochimczyk's own collection. This fascinating collection, which reflects early twentieth-century sensibilities and artistic canons, allows contemporary readers to gain an insight into the place Chopin still held in the European imagination, even half a century after his death." ~ Grazyna Kozaczka, The Polish Review 58 no. 4 (2013): 109.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The reviewer was equally fascinated with visual illustrations from vintage postcards, revealing late 19th-century sensibilities associated with Chopin's music and its expressive world:
"Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse is also rich visually since it is illustrated with many examples of postcards thematically linked to Chopin and his life from Trochimczyk's own collection. This fascinating collection, which reflects early twentieth-century sensibilities and artistic canons, allows contemporary readers to gain an insight into the place Chopin still held in the European imagination, even half a century after his death." ~ Grazyna Kozaczka, The Polish Review 58 no. 4 (2013): 109.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Recommendations for The Desert Hat by Ed Rosenthal (November 2013)
The Desert Hat - 36 Poems by Ed Rosenthal. 74 Pages, paperback and eBook editions. With 12 photographs of the hat (by Maja Trochimczyk) and the Mojave Desert (by Ken and Wendy Simms). Introduction by Ruth Nolan.
Paperback print edition: ISBN 978-0-9819693-7-4, 74 pages, $15.00.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/ed-rosenthal/the-desert-hat/paperback/product-21238943.html
E-Book, $10.00, ISBN 978-0-9819693-9-8
http://www.lulu.com/shop/ed-rosenthal/the-desert-hat/ebook/product-21239406.html
"Just over three years ago, after making a wrong turn on a hike, Ed Rosenthal, The Poet Broker of Downtown L.A., was lost for 6 days in Joshua Tree National Park. ... The temperature climbed above 100 degrees every day that week. Miraculously, Ed survived. Now, three years later, he has processed the experience. Beautifully. Ed has just published The Desert Hat, Survival Poems (Moonrise Press). And reading it is an astonishing experience in its own right. If Ed has just recounted his dramatic story, that would have been a good read. But Ed is a poet. He gropes for elusive meanings in his transformational desert suffering. Recurring images broaden into symbols, link, and elevate the book into, essentially, one extended poem."
~ Jack Skelley, November 2013, http://jsprla.com/updates/2013/11/13/surviving-was-a-big-deal-for-downtowns-poet-broker
In "The Desert Hat," Los Angeles poet/real estate broker Ed Rosenthal presents the mythopoetic journey through his real-life experience of being lost for 6 days in remote canyons of the Mojave Desert's Joshua Tree National Park in September, 2010. "The Desert Hat" delves deeply into the wildest and unpredictable heart of the Mojave into a storied landscape that Rosenthal renders as both recognizable to the reader and also deeply specific to his solitary and unanticipated experience, and in these poems, creates an empathetic and spiritually-affirming desert landscape that resonates within all of our desert hearts.
~ Ruth Nolan. Professor of English @ College of the Desert, California desert poet, writer, editor,conservationist & scholar
Ed Rosenthal’s The Desert Hat not only recounts an incredibly vivid story of survival, but maps out the dangerous journeys of the heart and the imagination in that hallucinatory place between mind and body, between nature and man, between the past and the future. Like poet James Wright, Rosenthal ”goes/ Back to the broken ground” of the self and finds a stranger there trapped in the cosmology of an endless, unpitying desert. As the stark “sun burns holes/ into the sky” the psyche’s true-north compass finds salvation’s shade. Rosenthal climbed out of “the busted monster’s mouth” with a beautiful, moving book.
~ Elena Karina Byrne, Executive Director of AVK Arts, author of The Flammable Bird, Masque and Squander
The “poet-broker” Ed Rosenthal was inspired by surviving alone in the Mojave Desert for six and a half days. Rosenthal’s poetry does not recount his experience in detail; it is not replete with maps, photographs, and a day-by-day account of his adventures. Instead, we gain an insight into what it means to be truly lost and found, to survive the strangest of desert nights and return to the heart of the city… with a newly found wisdom and zest for life.
~ Maja Trochimczyk, Ph.D., President, Moonrise Press
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
More Reviews of Chopin with Cherries edited by Maja Trochimczyk
Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse, An anthology of poetry edited by Maja Trochimczyk. This volume celebrates the 200th birth anniversary of a Polish pianist-composer, Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) with a selection of 123 poems by 92 contemporary poets, mostly based in America. The highlights include the first English translation of Norwid's Fortepian Szopena by Leonard Kress. With 50 vintage postcard illustrations, poets' biographies, list of cited music, and an index. Read more about this anthology. Published in February 2010.
ISBN 978-0-9819693-0-5. Paperback Edition - $23.00 or PDF Download - $10.00. Ebook in preparation.
CHRISTOPHER WOODS, FEBRUARY 2011: "For those who have been moved by the music of Fryderyk Chopin, this new international anthology will be a treat... One breathtaking aspect of the anthology is the diversity of voices, both stylistically and geographically... [Among] the striking aspects of the anthology is the way in which the editor, Polish born Maja Trochimczyk, arranges the various sections, not only by musical forms, but also into sections like beauty and death, words that often come to mind when considering Chopin's life, his passions and his early demise." Christopher Woods in Contemporary World Literature 5 (February 2011).
- ELIZABETH KANSKI, SEPTEMBER 2010: "In Poland, June is the month for Bing cherries (czeresnie) and July for sour cherries (wisnie), but it is Chopin season year-round, especially in 2010, the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great composer. Maja Trochimczyk, Polish American music historian, poet and photographer, decided to celebrate Chopin's birthday in an unconventional manner: with 123 poems by 92 poets, gathered together into a handsomely produced and exciting new anthology." From a review by Elizabeth Kanski, in Polish American Journal, September 2010, p. 21.
- ALLISON ROSS, MAY 2010: "What is most striking about this verse tribute is how deftly the editor weaves together the various themes, treatments and styles within the volume, meticulously detailed in the introduction and then presented format-wise in the book... All in all, I am immensely pleased with how this anthology turned out. In fact, it exceeded my expectations, because it is so comprehensive and cohesive. The poems are fascinatingly diverse in voice, topic, content, and style, and the poems reveal such richly individualistic interpretations of Chopin's powerful pathos. . . "Chopin with Cherries" is an anthology to treasure as intimately as one might cherish Chopin's compositions. From a review by Alison Ross, in the Clockwise Cat, May 2010
- JOHN Z. GUZLOWSKI, FEBRUARY 2010: "Maja Trochimczyk's Chopin with Cherries... is a masterful celebration of this composer and the complex range of emotions, impressions, memories, and dreams his music evokes... Finally, let me say that I cannot remember reading an anthology of poems centered around a single-theme that I liked more. The poems Maja Trochimczyk has gathered together to commemorate Chopin's 200th birthday are inspiring and exhilarating, as I have already noted, and - I don't know how else to say this - fun to read." From a review by John Z. Guzlowski in The Cosmopolitan Review 2 no. 1 (Spring 2010). Guzlowski's essay in The Cosmopolitan Review is accompanied by a selection of poems from the book including works by: Kerri Buckley, Ryan McLellan, Rick Lupert, Elizabeth Murawski, Ruth Nolan, William Pillin, Katrin Talbot, and Maja Trochimczyk.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Review of Miriam's Iris by Maja Trochimczyk
Miriam's Iris, or Angels in the Garden, Poetry and Photography by Maja Trochimczyk.A review of this collection of 60 poems was published by G. Murray Thomas, in the February issue of poetix.net. You may read a sample of poems and see selected photographs here. Published in 2008. Paperback ($12.40): ISBN 978-0-578-00166-1. Hardcover with Color Photos ($48.00): ISBN 978-0-9819693-2-9. PDF Download in Color ($10.00): ISBN 978-0-9819693-2-9
REVIEW BY G. MURRAY THOMAS, FEBRUARY 2010: "Rarely does one find a book of poetry which holds together as well as Miriam's Iris. Although presented as a collection of individual poems, it reads like it was composed as a whole, as a single poem of multiple parts. . . Miriam's Iris is a strong demonstration of how poetry can evoke emotion without getting bogged down in the details of one's affairs. Along the way it provides some wisdom about finding one's place, accepting what one is given." (G. Murray Thomas, Poetix.net, Feburary 2010)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
All photographs and information (c) 2008-2010 by Moonrise Press, Los Angeles. All rights reserved by Moonrise Press. Distribution and sales by lulu.com and its partners.
All photographs and information (c) 2008-2010 by Moonrise Press, Los Angeles. All rights reserved by Moonrise Press. Distribution and sales by lulu.com and its partners.