In her new anthology of poems, Dolores Stewart Riccio invites curiosity, memory, love, mystery, pageantry, and history to attend a celebration of soul! Each poem speaks directly to the reader; each lovely image appears in the mind’s eye and heart as brilliantly as a celestial panorama. The anthology is divided into eight sections, with topics ranging from Reincarnation to Shapeshifter and Acts of Faith. In the poem “Driving with the Right Side of the Brain,” the poet exclaims, “some daredevil soul records with a flourish of a pen adventures I never remember.” Trust me, daredevil souls: readers will lovingly remember the adventures that come alive in this poetry!
-Carol Jankowski, Director, Duxbury Free Library
Dolores Stewart Riccio's sure-handed lyrics, ranging from delicate to pointed, show us…the legendary in the everyday…Her volume of new and selected poems is a book of marvels, some of them the everyday kind like listening to opera while driving to the post office, a cache of unexpected words for death (“the professor of fates and balances”;), and some of them acts of faith such as "Negative Birthday Candles." These poems provide a fitting response to the epistemological teaser “Do you believe you are breathing?” Dolores Stewart Riccio's answer: “I do not believe; I know.”
-Robert Knox, Globe correspondent, Suosso’s Lane
Driving with the Right Side of the Brain takes us on a ride…Riccio’s syntax is alive…her use of traditional forms eases memory…delectable word choices… descriptors like sultry morsels. At times we feel we’re overhearing a private rumination, then we come across an ‘old spell’ or charm to carry us onward. Her language is at once philosophical and witty, giving power to the underdog and dame alike. Smile, chuckle, and nod your head as her ‘daredevil soul’ lays witness to life’s realities with a ‘cosmic nudge’ to keep our hearts centered on the ‘holy book of earth.’
-Ellen Jane Powers, Celestial Navigation
