Category Archives: musings

Born From Stardust and Other Poems, by Victoria Zigler – Book Review

Born From Stardust and Other Poems By Victoria Zigler – Book Review

The title poem in this collection begins as follows:
“We’re born from stardust, you and I,
And that alone’s the reason why
I’m pretty sure that when I die
I’ll join the stars up in the sky.”

Born From Stardust is a beautiful poem, and the book of the same name is a highly enjoyable and thought provoking read.

Amongst my favourite poems is “When Mummy Missed Story Time”, in which the poet poignantly describes the emotional reactions of a young child when it’s mother won’t read a bedtime story due to her fear that she has the Corona Virus, and her very natural desire not to pass on the infection to her son/daughter.

There are several other poems which touch on the pandemic, including one dealing with the impacts of social distancing on the individual and on society as a whole. I can relate to this series of poems, and it is a topic which I have, myself tackled in my own poetry.

Other poems deal with the threat posed by climate change. Again, this is a fine series of poems.

The serious poems are interspersed with lighter pieces such as “When Even the Beach is to Hot”:

“You know the temperatures are too high,
When even the beach is too hot!”

The above poem is especially apt at the moment given the very high temperatures we have been experiencing here in the UK and elsewhere.

I have read a number of Victoria Zigler’s poetry collections, and in my view this is her best thus far.

(Note: I received a free copy of Born From Stardust and Other Poems” in exchange for an honest review)

You can find Born From Stardust and Other Poems here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stardust-Other-Poems-Victoria-Zigler-ebook/dp/B095Z78L8P

Vice

I make tea
While she
Takes a shower.
I know
In an hour
Or so
She will go.

She smokes a cigarette
At my open window.
I regret
The cigarette.
But women and wine,
Are they not divine?

(Note, “Women and Wine” is a thread running through the poetry of Ernest Christopher Dowson).

More Often Than Not

More often than not
I stop
By the graveyard plot
Where a soft breeze
Rustles trees.
Yet, outside this spot
I hear it not.

Her Inner Mind

Dare he find
Her inner mind
Behind pumping thighs
And neutral eyes?

The best try
Not to objectify
By attempting to find
Her inner mind.

And in his bed
She maintains a shred
Of her privacy
By covering up after.

Lost Property

I have found a stiletto shoe
Which I think belongs to Lou.
I’ve also discovered a pretty sock
And a very short party frock.
Or do they belong to you!

The Dead Duck

Yesterday I emailed a friend asking whether he fancied a drink on Friday evening. He replied in the affirmative, and went on to say that “Asha has decapitated the duck!”.

I had visions of my friend’s Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy having run amok in Crystal Palace park and attacked a duck, which was now as dead as Monty Python’s Parrot! “Oh god!”, I thought. Then I remembered having bought Asha a squeaky duck from my local Sainsburys …

The Bachelor

If 2 depart
In skirts and heels
At break of day
What will the neighbours say
Of the bachelor man,
And Claire and Miss Anne …?

Doubtless We Will Discuss

Doubtless we will discuss
Poetry and lust
Over so-so Wine.

Then, in the morning
We will yawn.
You will depart.
And I will smile
For a while.

No forlorn
Heart of mine
Or thine.
Merely a rhyme
And maybe,
A next time.