Books

The Earth Claims Her was published by Plan B Press and is a collection of prose poems. Every piece of writing in this collection, each “snapshot,” is 100 words— exactly. When the pandemic hit, I needed to refocus my mind. As a writer for most of my life, I have loved the lithesome nature of words and their inherent imagery. While sheltering in place, I became inspired by people, nature, photographs, and memories. I challenged myself to write vignettes and shape and reshape each piece to eliminate any excess verbiage. Precision was the key, and my ultimate goal was to pare down the narratives to their essentials—the essence of each story, the essence of myself.

Arlene Geller’s robust poetry book, Hear Her Voice, celebrates a woman’s strength and power through words…The message—that every woman has the power in her voice to spread peace “in bliss or misery”—gives Geller’s book its authority…This is a well-crafted and meaningful book of the benefit of women’s force in the world. —Marie Kane, author of Beauty, You Drive a Hard Bargain

Arlene Geller has let her voice be heard and in doing so speaks for many. Her poems are keenly attuned to the natural world and her ancestral and spiritual lineage. She casts a wise woman’s eye on the healing power of both nature (sun, moon, trees) and human rituals like lighting of the candles. We are graciously invited into the stories of women in the Bible and women from the poet’s past. We see, through Geller’s words, the damage prejudice has on a young girl as well as the damage the coronavirus has on a beloved friend. Yet, overall, these are poems of light and resilience…and the expansiveness a faith she once found restrictive has offered her as an adult. —Donna Baier Stein, author and publisher of TIFERET Journal

Hear Her Voice ranges from the lyrical to the spiritual to the philosophical to the questioning as it observes and seeks deeper understanding. Early on, the poet takes us “to the edge of the world” in Precipice. She reflects philosophically about the biblical mothers and religion and spiritually about everyday encounters. Geller takes the simplest gesture or everyday habit and turns it into a memorable moment. In Reblooms, she is “bare branches of myself;” in moon dance, she is “a lotus flower in a lily pond.” She ends this beautifully crafted collection with voices lifting to “an existence outside the edges” in Flight. Throughout Hear Her Voice, you will recognize echoes of your own voice. —Hanna Fox, author of The Mathematics of Age