Friday, March 11, 2022

the dust of hope: rune poems by Judy Croome - Review


The Dust of Hope is a beautiful collection of poems inspired by the runes of the Elder Futhark. Two themes stood out for me: the pandemic and the loss of someone beloved. Almost right off the bat, emotions were evoked, and I could feel unshed tears at the back of my eyes.

"...a memory of infinity reminding me that--even as I sit in the darkness alone, isolated by the pandemic, your ashes scattered on the paths those eland walked--having once been wrapped in your love, I am still rich beyond compare." ('eland by the door')

Touching on the truth of this world and the realities of the pandemic. Our greed and inattentiveness (brains engulfed by cyberspace). The pack mentality (and those of us not part of the pack).

"...all those who clung together, once gaining strength and cruelty from their unity are kept apart, weakening with terror while we--the alienated, the outsiders--we're still alone with out strength and our souls that speak true, for we possess the gift of solitude and lock down is our home." ('speak true')

'when life returns to normal' being the "motto" of the pandemic. Yes!
"why would we want to...when normal was so skewed with unkindness and greed and corruption of power? if the bleak months of lockdown have taught us anything it would be: we must let go of the old normal and find undreamt of freedom in the fertile ground of fallow fields."

This collection is both thought provoking and soul stirring. Does it call us out? Yes, but humanity needs to hear it.
"...feeling like gods . will love turn to fear when we feel the first flick of tyranny, at that moment we first realise we've sold our souls to science" ('need-fire')

Highly recommended.

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Judy Croome’s latest collection of poetry returns to the ancient ways of the Nordic runes, shining a light of hope and healing as we navigate through the wilderness of anxiety permeating these early years of the twenty-first century.

The simple verses console the reader with a calm acceptance that, even during a global pandemic, everyday life ebbs and flows with the natural rhythms of the timeless oceans.

Here are poems that invite us to stop, to breathe, and to see the world around us from a new perspective birthed within the centre of our souls.

Available on Amazon.

About the Author:
Judy Croome lives and writes in Johannesburg, South Africa. Shortlisted in the African Writing Flash Fiction 2011 competition, Judy’s short stories, poems and articles have appeared in various magazines,
anthologies and newspapers, such as The Sunday Times, The Huffington Post (USA) and the University of the Witwatersrand’s Itch Magazine. In 2021 and 2016, Judy was the poetry judge for Writers2000’s Annual Writing Competition. In 2021, Judy presented an hour long workshop to Writers 2000 called “The Gift of Poetry”

Judy loves her family, cats, exploring the meaning of life, chocolate, cats, rainy days, ancient churches with their ancient graveyards, cats, meditation and solitude. Oh, and cats. Judy loves cats (who already appear to have discovered the meaning of life.)

Her fiction and poetry books ‘the dust of hope: rune poems” (2021); “Drop by Drop: poems of loss” (2020); “a stranger in a strange land” (2015),”The Weight of a Feather & Other Stories” (2013), “a Lamp at Midday” (2012) and “Dancing in the Shadows of Love” (2011) are available from Aztar Press.

“Street Smart Taxpayers: A practical guide to your rights in South Africa” (Juta Law, 2017) was co-authored with her late husband Dr. Beric Croome (1960 – 2019). Follow her on GoodReads, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.


I received this book free of charge from the author. Thank you to Poetic Book Tours for inviting me to participate.


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4 comments:

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment. It means so much.

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  1. I like the way the images in these poems add up.

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  2. Not a huge fan of poetry per se but that this collection is inspired by the runes of the Elder Futhark, its definitely a book I'll be keeping a note of, thank you.

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  3. Sounds like a really powerful collection of poems. Seeing the world with a new perspective is immense.

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  4. Thank you for being on the blog tour and for this lovely review.

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