Family Matters

<p class=ql-align-justify>JP DiBlasi is a native New Yorker currently living and writing in the Hudson River town of Ossining. Her poems have appeared in four anthologies: <em>All the Women Came and Sang </em>(Wyld Side Press 2025); <em>From the Inside: NYC Through the Eyes of the Poets Who Live Here </em>(Blue Light Press 2022); <em>Never Forgotten 100 Poets Remember 9/11</em> (North Sea Poetry Scene Press 2022); and <em>Carrying the Branch: Poets in Search of Peace</em> (Glass Lyre Press 2017). Her chapbook <em>No Longer Gravity's Partner</em> was published in 2019 by Blue Light Press. Other poems have appeared in: <em>Poetry Breakfast</em> <em>RiverRiver</em> <em>The Crazy Child Scribbler</em> <em>Persimmon Tree</em> and <em>Chronogram</em>.</p><p class=ql-align-justify>JP is interested in traditional Irish music and attends local music sessions. She also teaches the bodhrán the Irish goatskin drum. Friends love her sense of humor.</p><p></p><p></p><p class=ql-align-justify><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The poems in </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Family Matters</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> offer not only a brave lyrical exploration of loss faith and the natural world but a moving reimagining of rituals and memories detailed with care and honesty. They are poems that often end with a beautifully skillful transformation. I read it from cover to cover with admiration for the imagery eloquence and strong sense of revelation. </span></p><p class=ql-align-right><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>- Joanna Ezekiel Author of <em>Centuries of Skin</em> and <em>Homecoming</em></strong></p><p class=ql-align-right></p><p class=ql-align-justify></p><p class=ql-align-justify><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>In this collection of poems JP DiBlasi offers beautiful spiritual images to show the importance of family and the continuity of love passed down through generations. Peaceful images of water and nature are widespread. Some memories are reflected in a lake. Other comforting memories flood back in a mother's coat a brother's shirt and a father's lilacs. References to old masters and still life painting provide intriguing artistic detail. Through vivid imagery these poems show how treasured memories of loved ones can bring comfort.</span></p><p class=ql-align-right><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>- Patricia McCue Poet and Journalist</strong><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span></p><p class=ql-align-right></p><p class=ql-align-justify></p><p class=ql-align-justify><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>JP DiBlasi's new collection </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Family Matters</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> is laced with loss and touched by light love and deep peace. Her poems take you to both the wonder and the earthiness of family. They point to the core experiences of life and death a yearning for connection that is fulfilled in unexpected ways - a chocolate chip cookie the first sprigs of lilacs a quiet walk by the lake of loons slipping arms into a mother's long coat. JP's words evoke loved presence even in their absence. They bring a waft of remembered joy mischief and ah such gentle warmth and very tender smiles. </span></p><p class=ql-align-right><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>- Sr. Marylin Gramas S.U. Spiritual Advisor </strong></p><p></p>