SELECTED POEMS (see home page for most recent publications)
Soul Swim
Public Poetry Anthology
(Finalist, 2019 Contest) Poem: "Pilgrim Dance"
"Irish Roots" - Still Point Arts Quarterly, Spring 2020, page 57
The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature
Deep South Magazine - April 17, 2020
Deep South Magazine - April 30, 2020
The Creativity Webzine - "Flower Songs" - May 31, 2020
The Remington Review - Summer 2020 (Page 37)
Strands Lit Sphere - July 2020
Tiny Seed Literary Journal - August 2020
"Grapevines" - Sage Cigarettes Magazine, December 2020, Page 18
"Blue Ridges" - Open Door Magazine, August 2021, Page 34
"Cedar Hill" - Tiny Seed Journal, July 2021
In the Grip of Grace: Reviews
A beautiful collection of poetry that I will certainly return to often. To keep on my bedside table. These poems transported me to another place but also another time and though the poems are a tribute to the poet’s ancestors and are close to Marianne’s past, they reflect universal themes, from tradition, to resilience, love and loss. Locks of hair, an umbilical cord, hard rock, Pearl Harbor, how to appease a queen bee... I had favourites like "Sleeping with a Serpent." How wonderful to read about snake and man in a vivre ensemble moment. Stanley Kunitz evoked this moment as well in his “The Snakes of September.” “Elegy for my Uncle’s Kidney,” can be set in different contexts and I was taken from a war scene to a domestic one—carry on even though we live with the loss and grief. Loved “I’m Told How to Get a Pretty Man” that for me values women’s work within the home, the attention to detail, the art of keeping home and taking pride as home is where the heart is. Reading “In the Grip of Grace,” has been a truly moving and rewarding experience. Marianne’s poetic voice, talent, skill shines throughout.
Isabelle B.L., Author of “Jeanne the Woman in Red” and other titles (goodreads.com)
The Author of “In the Grip of Grace” Really Leaves You Wanting More
“In the Grip of Grace,” the poet, Marianne Mersereau takes leave for a bit of the Pacific Northwest, where she makes her present home in Washington and pulls from cherished memories of the Appalachia forested hills triangled by the boarders Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina where she grew up.
This collection of poems reads like an ancestral narrative of her family and friends. From Bats in the Chimney to the Chicken Coop Chapel she uses her fine honed skills as an extraordinary wordsmith to retell the details of family stories she has grown up with. She makes no apology for ghosts and healing of a severed tongue among squawking Chickens by faith and the grace of God.
One of my favorites is Elephants Remembered, which unleashes a variety of emotions from fascination, to anger and finally sadness. From Sonnets to Ceder Hill, which was crafted into a calligram in the shape of a cedar tree, Marianne brings an array of artistic thought that she cultivates and infuses into the making of this book.
If poetry can serve as memoir, this book could be seen as very close to it. The poem titled In Which My Parents Are Resurrected is a touching remembrance. It, along with Scattering Locks, and Umbilical Cord make up a very strong Trifecta of poems closing out this book. I recommend this especially for a strong and memorable conclusion.
Michael A. Wells, Poet (From Substack: “Poetica” - July 2024) and goodreads.com
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In the Grip of Grace is a cohesive collection of writings that touch
the heart and spark the soul through the poet’s vivid recollection of her
formative years. A read-through of this book stimulates the senses, and it
is almost as though one can feel, smell and touch the land and everything
else inhabiting the lives of those who lived the stories that come forth in
these poems. Full of richness, humor, poignancy, and of course, Grace,
Marianne Mersereau’s poems are a joy to witness.
~Anne Marie Spratt, New York Visual Artist