The Sealey Challenge Day 2: "The Beautiful Leaves" by Karen Greenbaum-Maya

I received my signed copy today and my book schedule became completely rearranged. I have read some of Karen Greenbaum-Maya's somber meditation that is more about love than death. I originally thought, outside of the book, that when she mentioned the word "grief" that it would somehow feel hollow and without love--boy was I wrong! Wrong about both love and poetry it turns out. Images of her husband's death are filled with her husband's life. There is an outpouring of emotion that is not a gleeful type of joy but a meditation that would bring smiles and tears as she wrote and as I read.

I almost always say the "narrator" or "speaker." Every piece of writing has those--the lens between us and the page. Karen brings something extra. She tells the stories and gives us the poems and vice versa. I identify the voice and actions so with much with the poet that even I mistake them. It is like having tea with an old friend and listening to her memories and learning about your experiences at the same time.

This is a beautiful tribute and I hope that it reaches many ears. Lovely, thank you!