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Book Review

I recently finished “Fallen Star Rising” the birth and death of a fiery love affair by Tara Caribou. This is a collection of poetry that tells a story that is broken down into five sections; deep space, gravity, blue giant and supernova.

The author does a fantastic job to ensure each section flows into another to ensure a story is being told rather than just taking a collection of poetry and spreading them out into sections. Throughout this compilation, as a reader, you are on a roller coaster of emotions. The intensity, eroticism, vulnerability, anger, love, and back breaking truth wrap you up like a blanket. Every emotion displayed in this collection is embraced and captures the essence of the journey of love as a whole.

It is a challenge to pick out poems that are my favorite. I truly enjoyed “Admired/Unworthy” due to the one or two words on each line. The word choice for this poem was bone chilling. I love the poem “Quietly I love you” due to its tenderness. I love the “Missing Piece” due to its gut wrenching cry to recognize someone.

The only flaw I see in this collection is the over use of curse words. I think the author could use better words to make the imagery more felt. Overall this is a great book and would recommend it to others. I give this four stars. This book can be found on Amazon and Lulu.com

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Somewhere east along Highway 37
A neon sign flashes intermittently vacancy
The Scarecrow Hotel remains alone
Stained threadbare carpets muffle TVs
And tearful phone conversations
Sixteen parking spaces yet only four filled
Warm shower and a sagging bed for the night

The ancient bricks lure the demented and sick
Vultures eying through the windows
Black and blue clouds crying endlessly
Wooden floors feeling troubled feet
Surrounded by ravens and blackbirds
Five miles east of the bloodhound river

She threw her suitcase on the queen
Predictably it flew wide open
The latches never held right, just like her heart
Two changes of clothing to cover her bruises
He’ll never touch her again but
Wrinkled clothing and a wad of cash
Don’t heal scarred faces

The letter “E” is barely visible in the sign
Voices humming a overture in the cellar
Last names engraved on walls by spirits
Doorknobs hanging by three threaded bolts
Driveway gravel is black as night
Welcome mat covered in red ants

He stares into the chipped mirror
Five o’clock shadow daily dulls razor blades
Just like the rings that dull his once bright eyes
The phone bill shows her increasing texts
Every time he travels to pay for her wants
More hours, more money, more fancy things
Less of him with less of her, he looks away

Dark stories unfolding in the rooms
Sheets covered in lies and betrayal
Cigarette smoke stirring up shadows
Tiny cracks in every bathroom’s mirror
Brown mustard dripping from faucets
Stained tears found in the corners of closets

She hears voices not her own
Listens every day upon a rented bed
One weekend she opened her eyes
Bloody hands and a very dull knife beside her
Finally a quiet clean house
Ever since then she lives with a smile
Mama taught her little girl don’t take no shit

Storytellers, dreamers, and howlers visit
Intending to sleep but fall in the depths
Replaying memories of the past
Cynics and liars raise a toast at the bar
Tipping the bartender bullets instead of dollars
Quarrels served at the table tops

He loosens a tie used as a tourniquet
Money well spent on the tricks of a whore
Last Friday he played two gigs stacked
Brain damage found in riding a white horse
Picks up his guitar and hums a few chords
Remembers the eyes of a lover
It’s another night, another hotel, another road

A neon sign flashes vacancy nonstop
Full of headaches, screams, and lost souls
Built on a cemetery of the Crowe family
Generations of terror between 6am and midnight
Sleep is just a word inside these haunted walls
Stories never die…

Braeden – non italic

Tara – Italics

This was a fun collaboration! I enjoyed it. Check out her blog if you haven’t.

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“O hell, what do mine eyes
with grief behold?”
Working with an old
Singlejack miner, who can sense
The vein and cleavage
In the very guts of rock, can
Blast granite, build
Switchbacks that last for years
Under the beat of snow, thaw, mule-hooves.
What use, Milton, a silly story
Of our lost general parents,
eaters of fruit?

The Indian, the chainsaw boy,
And a string of six mules
Came riding down to camp
Hungry for tomatoes and green apples.
Sleeping in saddle-blankets
Under a bright night-sky
Han River slantwise by morning.
Jays squall
Coffee boils

In ten thousand years the Sierras
Will be dry and dead, home of the scorpion.
Ice-scratched slabs and bent trees.
No paradise, no fall,
Only the weathering land
The wheeling sky,
Man, with his Satan
Scouring the chaos of the mind.
Oh Hell!

Fire down
Too dark to read, miles from a road
The bell-mare clangs in the meadow
That packed dirt for a fill-in
Scrambling through loose rocks
On an old trail
All of a summer’s day.

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Small Change got rained on with his own thirty-eight,
And nobody flinched down by the arcade
And the marquees weren’t weeping, they went stark-raving mad,
And the cabbies were the only ones that really had it made
And his cold trousers were twisted, and the sirens high and shrill,
And crumpled in his fist was a five-dollar bill
And the naked mannequins with their Cheshire grins,
And the raconteurs and roustabouts said “Buddy, come on in, ’cause
‘Cause the dreams ain’t broken down here now, they’re walking with a limp
Now that Small Change got rained on with his own thirty-eight”
And nobody flinched down by the arcade
And the burglar alarm’s been disconnected,
And the newsmen start to rattle
And the cops are telling jokes about some whorehouse in Seattle
And the fire hydrants plead the Fifth Amendment
And the furniture is bargains galore
But the blood is by the jukebox on an old linoleum floor
And what a hot rain on Forty-Second Street,
And now the umbrellas ain’t got a chance
And the newsboy’s a lunatic with stains on his pants, ’cause
‘Cause Small Change got rained on with his own thirty-eight

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Hello All,

I am sure many have noticed that I have not been on here in a while. You can find me on instagram.

I have not posted any new material due to some soul searching and over time you will see my blog change. I am currently in transition and reinventing myself as a writer.

I appreciate all of your support.

Thank you,

Braeden

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Stumbling in and out
A blurry vision stuck in the corner
Moments ripped at the seams
Strangers on the edge of thirst

There was a rush
Some unspoken urgency
His alluring eyes dripped desire
Intoxicated with need

Thoughts unraveled
Urges climbing to the top
Animalistic hunger bitten
Senses enhanced

A throbbing pain
Engulfed her senses
Enthralled and smitten
By his glance

Intensity bursting
Hidden gliding hand
Slightly revealing
Inevitable attraction

Both were in trance
Captive in each other’s arms
Heaving and breathing
Forgetting all moral qualms

Deep thrusts of fire
Like a train in a tunnel
Torn clothes
Devouring velvet

Their night of passion
Met the break of dawn
They savored each moment
And moaned to climax

Braeden – Italics

Sakshi– Non Italics

Check out Sakshi’s blog if you haven’t!

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(1st Verse)
I’ve been chasing rainbows in the dark
As you pull the strings on my heart
Wondering where can I turn
I’ve been misled by the curves of your words
As I stand in the quicksand of the hurt
Wondering if I will ever learn

CHORUS:
I’ve leaned in too far, too quick and too fast
Something about this tells this wasn’t built to last
I’ve ignored the logic and leaned toward all the emotions
Something about this tells me you aren’t about devotion
Something about this tells me you are already gone
Something about this tells me I’m not wrong

(2nd Verse)
I’ve been running against my intuition
Finally seeing something inside is missing
Wondering if I will ever see the message
I’ve been walking alone hand in hand
Finally seeing you won’t ever understand
Wondering if I’ve asked all the right questions

CHORUS:
I’ve leaned in too far, too quick and too fast
Something about this tells this wasn’t built to last
I’ve ignored the logic and leaned toward all the emotions
Something about this tells me you aren’t about devotion
Something about this tells me you are already gone
Something about this tells me I’m not wrong

Bridge:
And the walls are caving in
You are no where to be found
And when things seem to get tough
You are not around
And the pain seeps further in
You twist the story every time
And our world seems to fade
You seem to leave my mind

(2x) CHORUS:
I’ve leaned in too far, too quick and too fast
Something about this tells this wasn’t built to last
I’ve ignored the logic and leaned toward all the emotions
Something about this tells me you aren’t about devotion
Something about this tells me you are already gone
Something about this tells me I’m not wrong

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I didn’t mean to fall for your
magnificent intellect and brilliant eyes

I didn’t mean to fall for your
stunning curves and accent

I didn’t mean to fall for your
innocent laugh and magnetic charm

I didn’t mean to fall for your
echoing fortress and wide skies

I didn’t mean to fall for your
lips of ecstasy and golden tongue

I didn’t mean to fall for your
luscious skin and blissful scent

I didn’t mean to fall for your
beloved moon and drops of silver

I didn’t mean to fall for your
desirous flame and solid wick

I didn’t mean to fall for your
intoxicating personality

still we have no control over destiny
and luck is not the same as fate.
Reflections blending through a window
lovers and strangers, the cruelest fate.
My heart is a bird trailing its shadow
Its course charted and true</
I never meant to fall,
but I’ve fallen like the night for you.

Holly – Italics

Braeden – Non Italics

Check out Holly’s blog if you haven’t!

This was fun to collaborate with her!

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(1st Verse)
Remember when
I wrote I love you on a napkin
Remember when
You read it and you couldn’t stop laughing
Remember when
We danced in the pouring rain in our lawn
Remember when
I said “Look at you baby, you got it going on.”

CHORUS:
After fifty years
You know nothing has changed
After fifty years
Still in love, can’t get enough,
All this love and passion remains.

(2nd Verse)
Remember when
We made love on the kitchen floor
Remember when
We played hide and seek in the grocery store
Remember when
We listened to Chesney on those summer nights
Remember when
we talked until the morning light

CHORUS:
After fifty years
You know nothing has changed
After fifty years
Still in love, can’t get enough,
All this love and passion remains.

Bridge:
As the decades pass by so fast,
I can see our love was built to last.
Every minute and second I embrace,
I wake up still loving the shine on your face.

CHORUS:
After fifty years
You know nothing has changed
After fifty years
Still in love, can’t get enough,
All this love and passion remains.

Lyrics by Braeden Michaels