Review: Empty Nest by Vickie McEntire

Empty Nest

Vickie McEntire

Emotional and Present.

~Sarah McHatton, author of In These Mountains

    

Copyright - Vickie McEntire

Rating: ★★★★★

Genre: Poetry

Illustrator: Sandy Dutton
Publisher: Createspace

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Empty Nest by Vickie McEntire is a small collection of poems illustrated by Sandy Dutton. Although this is a small collection of poems, the emotion written by McEntire is present underneath the surface of every word. Some of the order of the words causes me confusion as it doesn’t match the rest of the lines; however, it doesn’t detract that much from the content.

The illustrations by Sandy Dutton are amazing. I would have loved to see one of those illustrations as the cover. It would have provided a more unique cover and the black and white contrast present throughout the book in the illustrations.

As a southern girl, I love the scent of honeysuckle on a summer breeze. So to find a poem entitled "Honeysuckle Breeze" bought all sorts of happiness to my soul on this very cold, snowy day.  It became my favorite poem of the collection. The reason is simple. I lost my mother almost one year ago. The connection to scent and memory is captured in this poem. It made me want to remember the scent of my mother's perfume despite knowing that it would bring me to my knees in grief. One day, I hope I can do as McEntire mentioned in the poem - connect that scent to her and revel in it.

Overall, the poems found in Empty Nest are full of emotions that help us connect to memories and experiences we have in common - loss, love, grief, and letting go.