Weaving the Wind

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Books that are emotionally engaging, passionately crafted, and infused with hope.

REVIEWS

The wind serves as a controlling metaphor in this collection, moving through the human landscape, bringing change. The stars also serve as a powerful metaphor for the interconnectedness of human beings with both the environment and each other.

In a powerful poem about language and power, the poet tells the story of walking with a small child who wonders at the wind, seeking the right word for it. She writes, “Oblivious now to what had enchanted him / Moments before I gave him that word. / The word that bound up senses and wonder and magic / Dismissing them into knowing.” Giomi has a deft touch for expressing this awe and curiosity, and for acknowledging the ways people don’t let these feelings into their daily lives. If the book has one clear message, it is to appreciate the world and those within it.

For people working through an illness, or for their caregivers, this volume offers an empathetic voice. Many will recognize their own reactions and suffering, and they will be inspired by Giomi’s efforts to transcend circumstances and find wonder in her world.

Camille-Yvette Welsch Foreward Clarion

I wanted to let you know that I bought your book “Weaving the Wind,” and read it through. It is a very beautiful and creative book and I thank you. It makes me want to know you better! Again, thanks for writing that book. I hope to read others that you created. What I d know is when you found time to write books! With your busy life!

Hilda Wales New Mexico State Poetry Society

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your manuscript. I savored it over the past week. The story itself, and the “spirit” of it brought up so many emotions and ponderings that I have recently been trying to pin down on a personal level. I’m not even sure how to articulate it, except that I feel a deep need to dig down into myself to see what really makes me tick. Through my mother’s side of the family, I know I have ancient ties with Spanish/Mexican/Native American cultures, but I have lost those connections, although my interest and curiosity in the mystical aspects of those cultures is still strong. Jessie’s experiences (the searching, the frustrations, the longing for something elusive, realizations and revelations) tugged at me as I journeyed with her. I wanted to jump in my car and drive until I found Weather’s Store. I was ready – even for the pain and suffering and loneliness – that must come with self- discovery. I want to experience that apocalyptic storm of awareness!

Your writing style is sort of poetic prose – fluid and tangible, chewy and gritty to the point of being sensual. I could see, smell, hear, and feel the wind, the rain, the moods, everything. I know I learned some lessons about metaphoric style. I’d really like to be able to do that. I admire your exquisite use of language. Now I’m eager to read your poetry and other work and I do hope you will pursue publishing.

Let me know if we can meet again sometime and talk about the writer’s support group or just life in general.

Linda L. Spalding Walking Home on the Camino de Santiago

Like so many authors, Giomi finds inspiration in nature-its cycles, its perseverance, its uncanny way of illuminating the human spirit through metaphor. The wind serves as a controlling metaphor in this collection, moving through the human landscape, bringing change. The stars also serve as a powerful metaphor for the interconnectedness of human beings with both the environment and each other.

In a powerful poem about language and power, the poet tells the story of walking with a small child who wonders at the wind, seeking the right word for it. She writes, “Oblivious now to what had enchanted him / Moments before I gave him that word. / The word that bound up senses and wonder and magic / Dismissing them into knowing.” Giomi has a deft touch for expressing this awe and curiosity, and for acknowledging the ways people don’t let these feelings into their daily lives. If the book has one clear message, it is to appreciate the world and those within it. For people working through an illness, or for their caregivers, this volume offers an empathetic voice. Many will recognize their own reactions and suffering, and they will be inspired by Giomi’s efforts to transcend circumstances and find wonder in her world.

Camille-Yvette Welsch ForeWord Clarion Reviews

People write for many reasons: therapy, artmaking, community. Thelma Giomi's poems originate, in some ways, from all of these impulses. Being diagnosed with lupus, a painful autoimmune disease, meant that, for much of her life, Giomi needed to find a way to face each day with hope. Poetry, her family, and her love of the New Mexico landscape have helped her along the way.

Giomi, who holds a PhD in clinical and developmental psychology, is the author of three novels and three volumes of poetry. Like so many authors, Giomi finds inspiration in nature—its cycles, its perseverance, its uncanny way of illuminating the human spirit through metaphor. The wind serves as a controlling metaphor in this collection, moving through the human landscape, bringing change. The stars also serve as a powerful metaphor for the interconnectedness of human beings with both the environment and each other.

In "Si La Va Va" the poet writes "They've lived the words that are in my bones, / Like the coded pattern of my illness." Everywhere, Giomi sees a link between language and the body.

In a powerful poem about language and power, the poet tells the story of walking with a small child who wonders at the wind, seeking the right word for it. She writes, "Oblivious now to what had enchanted him / Moments before I gave him that word. / The word that bound up senses and wonder and magic / Dismissing them into knowing." Giomi has a deft touch for expressing this awe and curiosity, and for acknowledging the ways people don't let these feelings into their daily lives. If the book has one clear message, it is to appreciate the world and those within it.

For people working through an illness, or for their caregivers, this volume offers an empathetic voice. Many will recognize their own reactions and suffering, and they will be inspired by Giomi's efforts to transcend circumstances and find wonder in her world.

Camille-Yvette Welsch ForeWord Clarion Reviews

You cannot divert the winds of change, But with your own invincible will, You can reach out to those shifting currents, And holding them lightly in your hands, Begin to weave a pattern, Deliberate and intrinsically yours. Wind: wild, restless and unrelenting or gentle, calming and sustaining fill the poems in Weaving the Wind with emotional experiences that touch each of us. From a raging windstorm to the intoxicating fragrance of mimosas; from the drift of snowflakes to a leaf floating on a pond, the images in Weaving the Wind while depicting the erratic nature of weather offer us a possible perspective filled with hope and healing. In Weaving the Wind the reality that we cannot control the wind is a perfect metaphor for life’s unexpected and unearned challenges that suddenly come into our lives disturbing plans and redefining who we are and what our true purpose is. The author offers poems that are dramatic, introspective and filled with intimate and soul-deep integrity. Whether confronted with grief and loneliness or abiding love and consolation her writing always returns the reader to a stunning sense of renewal. Weaving the Wind is intended to be a comforting resource for those whose own heart is the only source that can define their challenges. Within these pages the reader will find a sense of harmony, inner peace and a celebration of their own ability to weave passion, purpose and compassion into the tapestry of their lives while honoring their destiny and celebrating the indomitable spirit in each of us. Thelma Giomi is an award winning poet, author, and public speaker. She earned her Ph.D. in clinical and developmental psychology from the University of New Mexico. Dr. Giomi, a native of New Mexico, has deep connections to the land, the cultures and the people of the Southwest that enrich her life and poetry with powerful images and a deep sense of the spiritual. Through life experiences with chronic illness, being a caregiver for family members and friends she has developed a deep belief that caring for each other is the most significant and meaningful thing we can do with our lives. She emphasizes the strong spirit in all of us to find enchantment and inspiration in the world around us, empowering our lives with renewal, deep peace and purpose. Dr. Giomi is also the author of a novel, Weather’s Store: Encounters with the Sacred.

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