Ellen Marie Hinchcliffe

Fierce Shimmer: Poems for Mama Ellen Marie Hinchcliffe

"Ellen Marie Hinchcliffe has written a book of poetry for her mother, Kathy Glover, a talented painter who left the body in 2008 from cancer. The opening poem, In Body (Mama), the final lines: "...hear me trying to say/I love you/in the shape of/a poem." Every poem in this wonderful book extends these lines of love to her beloved mother. Sacred poems...so many beautiful, stunning moments to mention...when Hekate returns to comfort her Mother in the form of a cherished black dog. In one of the final poems in this collection, The Void (For Mama and My Child To Come), Ellen writes: "...even now/I am pregnant/with all/that love." Kathy Glover's complex, passionate and fierce paintings are also included- what a gift to the reader. From her paintings and from the fierce shimmer love of her daughter's poetry, I see Kathy Glover's death/transformation in Looking at Death: "Death raises her hands/palms out, fingers curled/in what looks like protest/but is truly reverence/for the woman/who dances/at the edge/before passing over."  This book is to be treasured, truly."  - ALMA Luz VILLANUEVA