Art Speaks The Loudest

Held In Their Pockets

“Express to our world what is alive inside us not what their world says we should be… Our true selves should never be created by others, Held in their pockets like belongings, like trinkets.”

Jason E. Hodges, The Drop Off

French Flowers Of Normandy

Zappa

Irish Rain

Irish rain fall on me

Fall from

Across the sea

For

I’m centuries and miles

Many, many, miles

Away from my homeland

Of

Ireland

Oh

Irish rain fall on me

Puddle in this land of America

Soak into her soil

Like your sons

And daughters

Soaked into the new world

So long ago

My fathers

My mothers

Crossing

The wavy blue waters

Of

The deep dark ocean

Carving out a new life

In a faraway land

In the Appalachians

In The Ozarks

On the streets of Southie

In Pennsport

In Hell’s Kitchen

In Five Points

All the way down to

The farmlands of Florida

Which in turn

Carved out me

Your Irish son!

So

Fall

Little drops of water

Fall far from the sky above

Pulled up to the clouds

By the midmorning’s sun

From

Dew drops dripping down

Grass blades bending

Across the rolling green hills

Of

The countryside

The creeks

The rivers

The rocky cliff shorelines

With their crashing

White cresting waves

The stonewalled castles

The moss covered Ring Crosses

That stand like soldiers

Over

My ancestor’s graves

In Ireland

Then blow clouds blow

Over the sea

To fall on me

As Irish Rain

For

Your drops are as close

As I will get to my homeland

That is

Lifetimes away from me

From my book, When The Cedars Shade Your Grave    

Missing People By Brandon S. Graham

Brandon S. Graham’s new novel “Missing People” is the classic punch in the gut Grit-Lit storytelling I’ve grown to love from him over the last few years. He does not disappoint with this nail-biting tale of colorful characters making their way in the world.

To me the book reads much like a movie playing out in front of you on the big screen. This is the telltale sign of a great writer. Someone who has spent day in and day out with each character-pouring everything they have into each one to make their book alive and believable.

“Missing People” is a book I highly recommend. Graham is at the top of his game. My prediction is this book is going to sell many copies and most likely make it to the big screen. It’s that good. So, pick up your copy today!

Book Description from Amazon: “Six years after the traumatic disappearance of Etta Messenger, it's clear that none of the members of her middle-class family have finished mourning. Gaping emotional wounds have been poorly addressed. Etta's mother, Meg, anxious to find closure and make what she can of the rest of her life, has organized a memorial service to mark the painful anniversary. Newton, Etta's erstwhile high school sweetheart, a disabled Afghanistan veteran with anger issues, uses the impending anniversary as a convenient excuse to spin out of control. Charlie, Etta's earnest blue-collar father, takes stock of his life and is reminded how he failed to protect his daughter. Her younger brother, Townes, who was the last of them to see Etta and is convinced his emotional outburst drove his sister away, has his fragile hermetic cocoon threatened by the heightened emotions of the day.

On the day of the memorial, a snowstorm threatens the city, and a chance observation on a commuter train entangles Townes in a dangerous situation that recall the events surrounding Etta's loss. The characters are shaken from their mournful routines by an unrelenting chain of events, including Newton's arrest, Townes' dangerous heroics, Charlie's recognition of his own shortcomings, and Meg's shocking discovery. The action moves from the seemingly serene suburbs to the heart of a dangerous Chicago neighborhood.

Will this ensemble of damaged characters pull themselves together in time, or will new stresses rip their tattered lives to shreds...”

Hand In Hand

“I’d rather fall climbing a mountain hand in hand with someone I felt was my equal than to make it to the top by stepping on them.” Jason E. Hodges, When The Cedars Shade Your Grave