Beautiful by Eve Forti

In the poems in Beautiful, Eve Forti frames from the materials of the universe—the stars and snows and flowers that surround us—poems that face the `short-lived reign` of beauty. These are poems wise to the ephemeral nature of things, yet alive with wonder.
Though often contending with loss, they are aware that in the `cellar of the heart` is a place that `longs to sing.`
~ Ben Dombroski

Rating: ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]

Eve Forti’s new collection, Beautiful, is grounded in the natural world, the human experience, and soaring cosmic imagery of magnificent proportions. “Can’t Wait for Perigee” is unforgettably Forti’s voice. “We have saints and poets here/ Green flashes on the rim of the Sun,” she writes in “On the Rim of the Sun,” a masterful lyric swept along by half-rhymes. The voice of spirit soars from these pages, yet never loses touch with the essential quandaries of humanity. Some of my favorite lines come at the end of “Bird Watching:” “death nests in our unconscious/…we close our eyes/ hoping to become invisible/ in the long shadow of its wings.” The irreducible “Falling Up” is a perfect poem that defies quotation and must be read in its entirety—that is to say, experienced. Transcendence beats its wings throughout Beautiful. “Connecting Dots” offers the experience of transcendence even as you read, its cosmic metaphor laced with compassion and tenderness: “How could we linger/ in that hollow/ between what we are/ and what we imagine/ ourselves to be.” Beautiful winds down with several delightfully wry or tenderly personal poems, a light-hearted touch to remind us that despite the spiritual heights and emotional depths, joy is also part of our humanity.
~ Julia H. Ackerman

Rating: ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]