Stronger Than Salmon by Carol Shamon

Carol Shamon‘s poems have the luminous yet penetrating quality of truth. Her poems reveal the depths of motherhood and marriage, love, and self-knowledge– each one a door, as she says, “to those we have loved and feared.” Reading these carefully crafted poems, we catch a glimpse of our own search for truth, seen more clearly through her unflinching eyes.

–Marcy Llamas Senese, PhD, Writing Consultant, The Perfect Pen

It is thought that the word “salmon” is derived from the Latin salmo or salire, which means “to leap”; in this cycle of poems, the author casts several theme lines: family, aging, prejudice, secrets and even magic, to name a few, so as to let the reader in on the inner strength required to get through this life, and the return to one’s source – Home, as it were.

“I tell myself that I need to remember all I am” guides Shamon’s leap of faith into the unknown of multiple losses, each with their own sets of challenges, and the personal triumph of survival in which the reader will ultimately share.   —

–Robt O’Sullivan, editor (San Diego Poetry Annual) and publisher (Escondido Arts Partnership’s Summation anthologies)

What a joy and privilege it is to read poet Carol Shamon’s collection of poetry.

The seeming simplicity of Shamon’s words bring the reader to profound insights on life, death, and the dance we make that separates these two doors. Throughout these poems it’s as if we, the reader, walk with her as we are introduced to important friends, family members and experiences along the way. She reveals in the most intimate, yet almost communal way, heartfelt details with her readers. Let us hope she brings more books forth for our emotional, poetic, and artistic pleasure.

–Pat Andrus is a former Artist-In-Residence for the state of Washington, a long-time English instructor at Bellevue College. Pat is the author of three collections of poetry, the most recent titled Fragments of the Universe (Blue Vortex Publishers).