By ann campanella

What Flies Away

Poetry

What Flies Away tells the story in poetry of the author’s mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s, her father’s sudden death and the miracle of her daughter’s birth. Campanella received the Poet Laureate Award twice for two poems “The Chase” and “How to Grieve,” both of which are included in the collection.

In Ann Campanella’s remarkable new book of poems, “What Flies Away” is literally life itself, and the people and animals in it who we love. The mother is struck with Alzheimer’s, the father dies, a beloved horse is put down, the narrator turns forty and feels her own life flying away, and then a baby is born, a miraculous red-headed girl who gives life back not only to the parents but to her grandmother, and of course, to the reader. We are riveted to these poems, as step by step we experience the loss, the grief, the mourning, and then the astounding resurrection. It’s a book to read and read again. Every poem in the book is part of the journey, and the journey changes the reader. This is what poetry is about.

– Anthony S. Abbott, author of The Man Who

Here are poems of profound and powerful feeling. A careful craftsmanship controls the painful emotions and lends them shape and force. This is strong work indeed and I recommend the work of Ann Campanella to every lover of poetry. Enviable for its strength, it is equally enviable for its grace. This poet has mastered a delicate and dangerous balance.

– Fred Chappell, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina

These poems…are essentially elegies written in advance. They are clear-sighted and unsentimental; at the same time, they are full of sentiment. I look forward to more of Ann Campanella’s work.

– Maxine Kumin, excerpt from an essay in Chelsea 67

This book is available at Main Street Books in Davidson or can by using the button below.

 

Buy This Book

We are riveted to these poems, as step by step we experience the loss, the grief, the mourning, and then the astounding resurrection. It’s a book to read and read again. Every poem in the book is part of the journey, and the journey changes the reader. This is what poetry is about.

– Anthony S. Abbott, North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame

In this collection of searching poems, loss and sorrow are considered in their dread fullness and the heartache of grief is given resonant voice. But finally, there is hope, belief in tomorrow when “…your eyes will be lit with fire/and you will be alive.” Here are poems of a faith genuine and bitterly achieved.

– Fred Chappell, Poet Laureate of North Carolina, 1997-2002 

These poems “…are essentially elegies written in advance. They are clear-sighted and unsentimental; at the same time, they are full of sentiment. I look forward to more of Ann Campanella’s work.”

– Maxine Kumin, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry

“What Flies Away, is a must for anyone who loves poetry… for anyone who can appreciate the way language can take you on a journey far from home and lead you back again more aware and whole. I find Ann’s words to have a sensitivity and a purity that is rare and profoundly beautiful.”

– Amazon Reviewer

This collection of poems pulls on your heart strings and moves your soul.  The poems are crafted with magic …. This is a testament to the author’s command over her craft…. Every poem tells a story with utmost honesty and sincerity—every emotion depicted in its purest form.

– Pooja Chilukuri, author of And Then There Was Jesus

What Flies Away encompasses so much of our human existence – grief over a father’s passing, heartache over a mother caught in a disease, the joy and wonder of precious babies, the beauty of nature – and love of horses. Ann is a master wordsmith who has created a treasure for the heart.

– Linda Austin, author of Poems that come to Mind

My heart broke, broke more, then was transfixed by joy as I read this magnificent book of poetry by Ann Campanella, twice recipient of the Poet Laureate Award, the highest honor of the North Carolina Poetry Society.

– Literary Redhead, Book Reviewer