Dragon Eggs

Beth Gulleys new poetry collection Dragon Eggs gives us snapshots of the life of someone who has traveled widely and remained open to experiences in strange places such as El Salvador Nepal and Kansas. The title appears in a phrase in the poem Simplicity in which the authors sons pick up quartz rocks on a beach and pretend they are dragons eggs and are soooo happy. Those who read these mostly brief accessible understated deceptively simple poems will be rewarded by finding many gems throughout and will also find delight. The range of experience presented is impressive as are the writers fresh observations. In the final poem The New Mythology she writes about her grandfathers sorrow over the loss of a child and of his happiness at her (the authors) birth. The first grandchild she is the jewel in the new mythology. Throughout the book many gems in the experiences that make up her developing mythology glimmer.-Patricia LawsonIn Dragon Eggs Beth Gulley faithfully follows William Zinssers advice for writing memoir: Memoir isnt thesummary of a life; its a window into a life. In this straightforward collection Gulley recounts memories fromchildhood in war-torn El Salvador the joys and frustrations of motherhood and with a reporters eye the unfolding of events thats shes observed. Sometimes her voice isphilosophical; sometimes it campaigns for social justice; sometimes her voice is delightfully sassy and self-deprecating. -Rikki SanterI have always admired those who can write short poems well and Beth Gulley does not disappoint in her book Dragon Eggs Spartan Press 2021. Beths poems exemplify the skill it takes to write a short poem that perfectly encapsulates image narrative flow and perspective. For example The Shooter captures so much about childhood in its crisp description of a childs marble. Gulley intersperses very tiny poems with short poems and prose poems shaped in squares. For all of the littleness of the poems they cover large territories from international atrocities to love of family childhood and maturation as well as delightfully concrete spiritual moments. Her longer poems at the end of the book I Am From and The New Mythology are like a genealogy providing the reader with the collections roots.- Phyllis Becker