Quark Soup.

Quark Soup

Magdalena Ball

Picaro Press

P.O. Box 853, Warners Bay, NSW 2282, Australia

1920957235 $7.00 http://www.compulsivereader.com

Quark Soup is a cryptic collection of alluring poetry that provides fodder for deep introspection, while personifying planets and attributing humans with celestial properties. The subjects of childbirth and supernovas are cleverly interwoven, often cloaking the author's intent. In great mystery, cosmic wonders flow within love and relationships, titillating the reader's imagination.

Examine this segment from Coil of Life:

   Hurling matter in all directions,
   the particles of the embryonic universe
   rush away from each other.
   In the beginning there was nothing
   but plasma soup. Less than a second later
   pure energy became
   a slippery birth cry still measurable
   fifteen billion years later
   in the decaying echoes of space.

Is the author referring to the birth of a child, or a universe?

In this excerpt from Aurora, Ms. Ball appears to be pleading with a cold-hearted scientist who has lost the capacity to perceive beauty and perhaps also the ability to show affection. Her earnest entreaty follows.

   If I could capture that spectrum
   the atomic neon sign of your lost wonder
   and feed it to you on a spoon
   when your lonely vigil against
   poverty and incompetence
   becomes ball and chain
   I'd give up my own food
   stand with my back to the solar wind
   close my eyes to beauty
   to keep you warm.

   I'd be your personal aurora
   your talisman against the dark lure of ennui
   an electrical current charging
   your ionosphere.

Science and passion fold together in masterful imagery as love, loss, and motherhood slip in and out of the image streams captured by Ms. Ball.

The subject of loss is tackled in several pieces, most particularly in Green, which addresses the loss of a mother to cancer. Examine this excerpt:

   my fingers worked independent
   from intent
   tracing the landscape of her arched back
   as she bent over her porcelain taskmaster
   begging the drugs which she couldn't swallow
   to kill the disease
   indistinguishable from her own cells

Honest emotion covers themes like lonely childhood, the perfect universe, an impersonal lover, and the infinite joy of parenthood. With skillful word tapestries, the poems are infused with the wisdom of deep thought and experience, a rare commodity in such a young author. The collection is highly recommended, and will be treasured on this reviewer's bookshelf.

Aaron Paul Lazar, Reviewer

www.legardemysteries.com