I loved it!
–Susan Bono, author of What Have We Here and Publisher/Editor of Tiny Lights: A Journal of Personal Narrative
Rating: ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]
“I am haunted by the mystery of you” Patton says of her autistic daughter, sometimes “bald and blistered” by grief and fear for that child’s future and other times able to marvel at the “Secret Garden” within. The book is a journey every mother must take to carry her child “not where I had planned but / wherever you must go.” On it, Patton discovers reservoirs of fortitude and hope she did not know she possessed. She learns to be grateful for what is—“[e]very time you say something new, I throw a party in my head”—rather than what could have been. In her world, the “special” child becomes the one who, instead of shunning her daughter, makes an effort to play with her. “My love is a song I long to sing” Patton says in one poem, but really, she says it in every poem in a book that is heartfelt, honest, brave, and brimming with a mother’s love.
–Rebecca Foust, Award-winning poet and author of Paradise Drive, God, Seed, and
All that Gorgeous Pitiless Song
Rating: ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]
Poetry should find us and hold us, especially in the moments of our lives that inevitably define us. The poems in Across an Aqueous Moon: Travels in Autism accomplish this and more. Patton writes eloquently about her daughter and autism, including diagnosis and discovery, loss and acceptance, but most importantly, love. Patton reminds us that even when confronting disability, “hope blooms amidst the grass of doubt.” We can return to these poems, knowing “it does not take words or even touch to love, all is takes is a heart, willing to be as boundless as the sea.”
–Connie Post, Author of Floodwater, When The Sun Drops, and Trip Wires; Poet Laureate of Livermore, California, 2005-2009; and Host of the Valona Deli Poetry Series
Rating: ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]
In this marvelous collection, Patton, a single mother, explores what it means to parent an adopted, autistic child. Poems touch on the challenges of divorce then dating, teaching social skills, and the difficulty of communicating with her daughter, but what shines through most is love. Patton’s words inspire us to find delight in even the smallest of things.
–Jennifer Simpson, Director of DimeStories International and Editor of I Write Because…
Rating: ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]
A striking debut poetry collection in which a single mother confronts adoption, autism, abandonment, divorce, speech and social skill delays, and online dating with strength, optimism, courage, and hope—plus tremendous acceptance and love. A moving, inspirational look at human resilience and special needs parenting.
A must for anyone touched by autism spectrum disorder.
Rating: ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]
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