A 5 star review of Thrown again into the Frazzle Machine: Poems of Grace, Hope, and Healing on Amazon:
“This wonderful book of poems touches me, speaks to me, knows me….Each poem becomes a gift for my healing on all levels. Randomly opening the book and reading the poems on the nearby pages is a journey into the heart. Thank you.”
Mildred M Heurich
THROWN AGAIN into the FRAZZLE MACHINE: Poems of Grace, Hope, and Healing
For almost as long as I can remember, reading has been my escape, distraction, teacher, amusement, consolation, friend, and a welcome alternate reality. When my Mom passed away in 2012, it was natural for me to seek comfort in reading. One of the books that drew me in was by Laurie R. King. This poem (from Thrown Again into the Frazzle Machine) came to me, weaving my real life with her fictional world, making some kind of sense from the (temporarily) numb place I was in. How about you? Any books that moved you or gave solace or understanding?
9/6/12
Reading Garment of Shadows
by Laurie R. King
I couldn’t see myself
on the other side of darkness
you lose a mother only once
what is broken cannot be fixed
what reassurance
could be offered
what meaning or strength
found in contemplating healing?
It is as if I woke with amnesia
unaware of who I am
clues all around of someone
who lived where I lived
and worked and was a friend
but who she is now
or who might know
or what road to follow…?
In the meantime…
sun rises…sun sets
the day is sunny or gray
put one foot in front of the other
the nights blending together
I dream in language I do not understand.
Margaret Dubay Mikus
© 2012
From Thrown Again into the Frazzle Machine: Poems of Grace, Hope, and Healing. Print edition now on amazon.com. (Also widely available as an ebook.) Thank you for sharing!
Not too late for Valentine’s. It’s really the whole weekend, right?
One of the narrative threads running through my new book, Thrown Again into the Frazzle Machine: Poems of Grace, Hope, and Healing, is love. (The book is dedicated to my husband.) Here is a love poem written before major surgery:
11/21/13
I am safe
lying here spooned
with my sleeping husband
who is warm
and smells slightly of cloves.
We are softly breathing
and music is playing.
Lying here under a thick duvet
it is a warm cocoon.
I am safe
pain-free
breathing easily
heart beats regularly.
When I rise
I slip back into the room
and walk effortlessly
out the door
down the hall into
my own silence.
Margaret Dubay Mikus
© 2013
New! Print edition of Thrown Again into the Frazzle Machine is now available at Amazon.com!
12/12/11
Startling Starlings
Everett Road west of Riverwoods
In the middle of a murmuration
landscape and sky covered by wings
myriad dark apparently separate bodies
climb and swoop and soar in evident synchrony,
how can that be? Mysterious symphony
immersed in all that majestic energy
a blessing particularly chosen for me.
Margaret Dubay Mikus
© 2011
From Thrown Again into the Frazzle Machine
I am posting this poem here for Harold Grandstaff Moses who mentioned this phenomenon today on Facebook. This is my experience of murmuration. If you don’t know this term, it is that swooping, soaring sky-dance of a huge flock of starlings that stay in perfect synchrony. Amazing to witness! I was near my house, driving by an open field and into the middle of this awesome spectacle. I stopped the car to watch and laughed out loud at the wonder of it.
Thrown Again into the Frazzle Machine: Poems of Grace, Hope, and Healing is now available in print as well as popular E-book formats. (The paperback has black and white photos and the E-book has 11 full color pictures with the poems.) Check it out! And spread the word! Thank you!
Shell Angel from Barbara– Photo by MDMikus Copyright 2009
In 1996, at this time of year, I had just finished chemotherapy for breast cancer. Surgery was behind me and radiation treatments were ahead. Our small family of four was trying to have a “normal’ Christmas. We put up the tree and decorations, wrapped presents for our two young kids. My husband made the traditional turkey dinner. In the flurry of activity (and some haze of chemo fog on my part) came this poem (based on a true story): To hear me read it (Track 19 on my CD, Full Blooming)
Christmas Cricket
Just when I thought
nothing could shake me,
a cooked cricket
showed up on our Christmas turkey,
not crispy, but thoroughly well done,
black body sprawled across a browned thigh.
Awakened by the warmth of the oven
from winter hibernation
in a dark, safe place—the roaster,
it began the final journey
in ever increasing heat
and then succumbed,
at least where we could see
before taking a crunchy bite.
Margaret Dubay Mikus
© 1996
On my CD, Full Blooming
(Listen to poem)
From my book, As Easy as Breathing
(Eric Hoffer Award Honorable mention
in Self-help/ Spiritual)
Joy Angel from Barbara– Photo by MDMikus, Copyright 2009