Everyday Magic by Stacy Russo

Everyday Magic revels in solitude and simple pleasures. Stacy Russo evokes the power inherent in cultivating a sanctuary for the creative self. Here is a collection which invites you in to stay a while, to share in a palpable joy of deliberate independence, the table sometimes set for one, but also for many: a strong line of women who give life force to these verses.

–Leticia Del Toro, author of Café Colima

As a pilgrim, journey through this stunning collection that captures everyday life, “her dreams are broad, thick- / deep enough,” family, and relationships. Through brilliant lyricism your heart discovers it has wings—then explodes, “her heroines: / bear women, / water goddesses, / a tall Cherokee / who wishes to marry / a hummingbird.” Each detail glows within this alchemistry, “smoking cigarettes / with the moon.” Join Stacy Russo in Everyday Magic and be empowered.

–Cindy Rinne, artist and author of Moon of Many Petals and Breathe In Daisy, Breathe Out Stones

“The dreams of the terrified are simple”—handy, affordable, and contained like a crisp apple or a bowl purchased at a thrift store. What counts is to have a dream, pack it into a suitcase, and start off towards “the land of resurrection.” “I come from a family of dreamers,” Stacy Russo says as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery, leading from a place of pain to a place of freedom where she will be “no more afraid of the night.” Such a new home coincides with the ultimate surrender to solitude, a state that once embraced isn’t lonely at all. In fact, Everyday Magic is a choral pilgrimage peopled by a variety of fresh, poignant, indelible portraits of women. Russo intertwines the stories of those traveling companions with her own in a web of warm, joyful sisterhood, capturing through brief epiphanies their beauty, their courage, their capacity of choosing the less traveled path and following their bliss.

–Toti O’Brien, artist and author