The Red Drum (2nd edition) by Cristina M. R. Norcross coming soon! (Publication Date: Fall, 2013)

The Red Drum by Cristina M. R. Norcross  (Lone Gull Press, 2013)

Wisconsin author Cristina M. R. Norcross writes about the sacred, every day moments that bring us joy, while reflecting on what makes the soul search for philosophical answers to modern living.  Inspired by the beauty of landscapes, nature, visual art, music, parenthood, faith and the creative process itself, Ms. Norcross sheds light on why we need to strive for more out of life than just the external or temporal.  The Red Drum has poems for every searching soul.

Cristina M. R. Norcross is the author of Land & Sea: Poetry Inspired by Art (2007), The Red Drum (2008, 2013), Unsung Love Songs (2010) and The Lava Storyteller (2013).  Her works appear in North American and international journals, such as The Toronto Quarterly, Red Cedar, Your Daily Poem and The Nervous Breakdown.  Featured in the BVAG show, ARTiculate (2011, 2012), Cristina's work also appears in the anthologies, Contemporary Women’s Literature (2007), Verse and Vision (2011, 2012) and Sounds of Solace (forthcoming).  She was the co-editor for the project One Vision: A Fusion of Art and Poetry in Lake Country (2009-11) and is currently one of the co-organizers of Random Acts of Poetry and Art Day.  Find out more at: www.FirkinFiction.com. 

Sample Poem from The Red Drum:

Growing Windows

What the body remembers

is the swell of oceans –

the tumult of lengthening limbs –

hands that start writing

the stories of age

with each stretching muscle.

No bump is showing –

yet I’m feeling thick around the middle.

My soft, tender belly

knows curves –

roundness was here for three pregnancies.

Two of them stayed and grew.

A woman’s torso extends to fill space.

Age walks –

it wanders into wisdom unknowingly

and finds the longest book to read.

We may be here awhile,

says the body.

Take root,

grow windows

and look out.

Cristina M. R. Norcross

Copyright 2012