Trapped in the Bone-House by Susan J. Sample, published by Main Street Rag Publishing Co., 70 pages, Jan. 2023

Susan Sample has reached new heights as a poet in her latest book, Trapped in the Bone-House.  She writes about some of the most difficult things in life — illness, dying, death, loss, and grief — with both fearlessness and vulnerability.

In the titular poem, the strain of caring for her ailing father who likens his condition to a house arrest is evident when she writes, “We are both, I’d think, trapped in the bone-house.”

Sample is equally bold when writing about the joy of loving and living. In Woman Found, she embraces her identity as “Ona, grand and strong.” She celebrates her young grandson when she writes, “For we are alike creatures, exquisitely afloat in the fullness of as yet.” Read this book — you’ll be rewarded with the author’s generosity as a writer who gives the deepest part of herself in every poem.

Learn more about Susan J. Sample. To order a copy, visit Main Street Rag Publishing.

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E.P. Tuazon’s Story Collection Turns the Ordinary into Surreal