Author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (EIF-Experiments in Fiction, 2022). Pushcart Nominated Poet 2022. Editor MasticadoresUSA.
I have a poem up on Spillwords today. It’s a headliner! Thank you, Dagmara K at Spillwords.com! This poem is based on personal experience. Locals in my city know Memorial Cemetary on the Business Loop. There’s a children’s gravesite along side the road. I always passed it on my way to see Mom at the... Continue Reading →
This collaboration by Nolcha Fox and me is heartfelt. Like many people, we are traumatized by yet another mass shooting this week alone. The poem speaks for itself. We have grief, anger, worry. No words. You can access the poem, which published on MasticadoresUSA today, by clicking the link below. I’m just an old lady... Continue Reading →
Thank you, Juan Re Crivello, for publishing this collaborative piece by me and Nolcha Fox. We are so delighted! The gremlins ate my links for lunch, I cannot get to Amazon. Now they’re eyeing photographs I stored on my computer. Social media may be next. Will I be erased? They spoon stuporinto my coffee.Stir in... Continue Reading →
Juan Re Crivello, the Director and Head Editor for Masticadores, has a new Masticadores blog called Hotel Masticadores House. It is open for submissions for works on grief. I just happened to be working on another poem, an Ameri-Ku, about me and Mom, so I submitted it. Thank you, Juan, for publishing my poem! Submit to Juan... Continue Reading →
For the past half week I’ve felt heavy hearted and physically sore. Today I just had to go back to bed and sleep. I finally realized I was grieving Mom because April 3 is the anniversary of her passing.
It makes me wonder what lies beneath other dark days I have. Did something happen to me that I left buried and hidden? That in some mysterious way became my root, my grounding, and my new blooms?
…. isn’t a secret as we all till the ground for the daffodil, sprung each spring before an unexpected snow that bends our backs so low we wonder if we can survive The weight of a lingering winter We brace the cold, wet tears and all hold grief in a sacred spot where its roots can uphold us once the frost melts Copyright © 2023 Barbara Harris Leonhard All Rights Reserved
Barbara is author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (EIF- Experiments in Fiction, 2022). A poem from this collection was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2022. Also, on Spillwords, Barbara was voted Author of the Month of October 2021, nominated Author of the Year for 2021, and recognized as a Spillwords Socialite of the Year in 2021. In November 2022, she became Editor for MasticadoresUSA. Barbara enjoys bringing writers together and started hosting open mics and readings on…
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Nolcha Fox is a prolific and entertaining poet! I was honored to review her book “Memory is that raccoon”, which contains the poem featured here. Enjoy! https://read.amazon.com/kp/card?preview=inline&linkCode=kpd&ref_=k4w_oembed_mGs735zp8njRe2&asin=9395224622&tag=kpembed-20 Happiness is an elephant sitting in the best chair, hogging the remote. I can only feed him peanuts and vacuum when he goes to the refrigerator for a... Continue Reading →
I wrote a review of Ken Gierke’s stunning debut poetry collection. You can find it at MasticadoresUSA. What immediately impresses the reader is the cover, which displays stones hewn into glass by water and time. Different shades of blue and green, … “Review of Glass Awash, by Ken Gierke” by Barbara Leonhard Divider Image: by GDJ on... Continue Reading →
I have a new poem up at Spillwords today. You can find the link below, but first, some background. While sheltering from COVID exposure last winter, I was able to hear the neighbor children playing in the park after a new snowfall. From my study window, I could see them fashioning a sled run down... Continue Reading →
“Talk Smack to a Hurricane” by Lynne Jensen Lampe https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2022/12/27/talk-smack-to-a-hurricane-by-lynne-jensen-lampe/ — Read on masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2022/12/27/talk-smack-to-a-hurricane-by-lynne-jensen-lampe/
I’m humbled and grateful for this review written by Aarik Danielsen, the Arts and Culture Editor for the Columbia Tribune. He’s an amazing writer, and I felt moved to tears. He truly witnessed my soul. https://www.columbiatribune.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/11/05/how-columbia-author-barbara-leonhard-faced-griefs-pointed-questions/69610771007/ Barbara Harris Leonhard Amazon Best-Selling Author Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir, (EIF-Experiments in Fiction, 2022) Pushcart Poet Nominee, 2022... Continue Reading →
Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver 