4 out of 4 stars
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Do you try to conceal your imperfections from the world? Do you see yourself as priceless or worthless or maybe somewhere in-between? Do you have trust issues, or are you too trusting? These are some of the questions that Martie Zuckerman kindles in the mind of the reader throughout her collection of poetry entitled A Crack in the Plaster.
Being one of the many elders in our society, Mrs. Zuckerman has a long lifetime of experience that she is able to inject into her works of poetry. As you read through the multitude snapshot stanzas of her life, she shares her many strong feelings that she has experienced throughout her many years. As you would expect, a lot of the poems found in this book are about relationships, since our relationships are usually the areas in which we find the most intense feelings of both love and anger. We can never be so devastatingly wounded or upliftingly healed except by those who we hold most dear in our hearts. The author expresses many of these feelings in her writing, but she does not neglect to include goofy observations of herself and others to give balance to these pages either. In the end, the book gives a pretty nice mix of the gamut of feelings that we can experience throughout our lifetimes.
The book is arranged into five separate chapters that take us through a variety of ruminations on situations the author has come into contact with. The majority of the poems are of a pithy nature that can be read in a couple of minutes or less. Most of the verses come from feelings within herself onto the page, but she does have ones that also are specifically for others in their time of need or want. One of my favorites was written for a wife to give to her husband who was dealing with the loss of his brother. Mrs. Zuckerman did an excellent job of crafting that one to fit the deep faith of the family.
As I began reading this book, I was extremely pleased when the author told me right away that she utilized rhyming verse in all of her poetry. This is by far my preferred way of reading poetry, so that made a great start to the reading experience. I also enjoyed the openness that Mrs. Zuckerman displayed in the poems that were included in this publication. She left herself pretty bare emotionally at times which definitely speaks a lot to her confidence in herself.
There is not really much of anything that found that I could say truly detracted from the book for me. Though the author was often trying to connect with other women in much her writing, I never really felt targeted to be excluded from her words just because I am a man.
As a quick heads-up for the reader, there were a few isolated instances of strong language in the book, but in no way is that prevalent at all in the author's writing.
Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. Mrs. Zuckerman is completely engaging in the poetry that she has published for our consumption here. It was a wonderful mix of chapters from her life that I got to experience in this book. I would recommend this book to any lover of poetry in any of its forms. I would also recommend it to anybody going through a difficult time in their life who might be looking for a like mind to touch base with. One can find joy, comfort, and understanding in the verses of these excellent works of poetry.
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A Crack In The Plaster
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