Eva Pasco

5.0 out of 5 stars

Soul-Baring Poetry

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2023

I acquired a signed paperback from the author.

Having read Anna Casamento Arrigo’s autobiographical novel, ‘Weeds beneath the Open Meadows,’ and taken into consideration the revelations in her epilogue of ‘Petals,’ I can better appreciate each soul-baring poem in this diverse collection.

Intellectually stimulating, each poem commandeers the reader to delve below the surface of words to savor its literary pulp. To my understanding several resounding themes abound: the dreamlike state of childhood and its pilfered innocence; throwback to the Sixties; a complex relationship with her father; depression and determination to overcome setbacks of a stroke; social inequities; futility of war; romantic bliss replete with the subtleties of sensual and erotic imagery.

This poetry collection is a treasure trove of strewn petals “one by one floating” in the mind’s field of vision to leave an indelible impression long after the last page has been turned.