The Last Exotic Petting Zoo is Jessica Tyner's debut poetry anthology comprised of twelve years of writing. A series of epochs, the reader is led down a spectrum of fragments in time saturated with loss, love and hope. Spanning several countries and facets of relationships, Jessica delves into the underbelly of familial strife and awakenings from a childhood with bi-racial parents to the loss of her father. Featuring glimpses into the reality of the relationship with the self, from infatuation to despite, key pieces dig in deep to the most incestuous relationship everyone has. Each piece segues seamlessly to the next, a love story told piece by piece until they become one unstoppable force-just as such stories are meant to be and always have been. Jessica Tyner is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet from Oregon and member of the Cherokee Nation. She received her master's degree in writing from Portland State University's Ooligan Press program, and has published poems and short stories extensively in the US and India. An entrepreneur, she's the owner of MehtaFor, a business that provides a number of writing services for a variety of industries and clients. Jessica is also a certified yoga instructor, and in her spare time enjoys road trips-particularly to Napa Valley, - muscle cars, and spending time with her inspiration for The Last Exotic Petting Zoo, Chintan. (Jessica Tyner Last Exotic Petting Zoo)

Last Exotic Petting Zoo

Literature & Fiction

Mehta, Jessica Tyner

Poetry

Smooth Stones Pr

FLYING WITH BROKEN FEATHERS is an anthology of original poems, which forms a narrative of domestic violence, escape, healing and recovery. Weaving through this narrative are themes around nature and spirituality. Flying With Broken Feathers is reflective of the author's journey through captivity and abuse, through despair and post-traumatic stress; that space before the reality of resurrection sets in, in which grief and anger are paramount. The reader is drawn through this darkness to the point of healing and rebirth. (Naomi Johnson Flying with Broken Feathers)

Flying With Broken Feathers

Johnson, Naomi J

Observant Observing's is Marie Hanna Curran's first poetry collection. It's a book of noticing, observing behavior, questioning routine and redefining the banal. Each poem encourages the reader to pause, listen, inspect. Traits so often overlooked in life. Observant Observing's is comprised of five sections, which speak to aspects of nature, everyday objects, the four seasons, time past and present and people in social situations.

Observant Observings

Curran, Marie H

THE WEIGHT OF SNOW: In the award-winning book The Weight of Snow, author B. L. Bruce explores the many plights of the human species, from the mysteries of the heart and the inescapability of death, to the depths of human emotion. Told from the perspective of a poetic naturalist, Bruce shares her appreciation of the wild, illuminating the profound in the mundane while chronicling the natural world as both an observer and as an irrefutable part of it. Her poems focus strongly on image and locality, conjuring the imaginations of readers and celebrating the beauty in the follies of the human condition and its capacity to grip the soul. (Bri L. Bruce http://www.tayenlane.com/weight-of-snow)

The Weight of Snow: New and Selected Poems

Bruce, Bri L.

FLYING WITH BROKEN FEATHERS FLYING WITH BROKEN FEATHERS is an anthology of original poems which forms a narrative of domestic violence, escape, healing and recovery. Weaving through this narrative are themes around nature and spirituality. Flying With Broken Feathers is reflective of the author's journey through captivity and abuse, through despair and post-traumatic stress; that space before the reality of resurrection sets in, in which grief and anger are paramount. The reader is drawn through this darkness to the point of healing and rebirth.

WHAT MAKES AN ALWAYS: “Our rituals, those us habits, the unimportant is what makes an always.” Making an always isn’t like making a cake. A bed in the morning. A decision, good or bad. Jessica Tyner’s sophomore book explores the makings of an always―as a noun, of course. Five has long been an auspicious number in many cultures, from the five sacred mountains of China to the high five in western countries. What Makes an Always is an exploration of five different, yet complementary, aspects of the human experience we all share at various depths and times. “The Animals of My Father” delves into the first relationship we all have: Those with our parents, a natural and wild time where many of our quirks, eccentricities, loves and fears solidify. In “The Heft of Lightness,” the examination of the body is laid out spread eagle and naked from the love/hate relationship with food to the awakening from eating disorders. “Recollection of the Training Days” is a reflection of the early years of romantic love, those ugly cry days and elations so striking you’re certain nobody, but nobody, has ever felt the same. “What Makes an Always” is what happens when love settles in that good, sweet way. Finally, “Lovely in the Strange” is a shift from ruminating on the past and risking a look forward. Our experiences are all different in their subtleties and nuances, yet a like connection holds strong. It’s that connection we all share that’s the secret recipe. That’s what makes an always. (Jessica Tyner Mehta What Makes An Always)

What Makes an Always

THE WEIGHT OF SNOW: In the award-winning book The Weight of Snow, author B. L. Bruce explores the many plights of the human species, from the mysteries of the heart and the inescapability of death, to the depths of human emotion. Told from the perspective of a poetic naturalist, Bruce shares her appreciation of the wild, illuminating the profound in the mundane while chronicling the natural world as both an observer and as an irrefutable part of it. Her poems focus strongly on image and locality, conjuring the imaginations of readers and celebrating the beauty in the follies of the human condition and its capacity to grip the soul. (Bri L. Bruce http://www.tayenlane.com/weight-of-snow)

Bruce, B. L.

Diamond Cutters names the tradition of Visionary Poetry from the early 20th century with Kathleen Raine and David Gascoyne through to contemporary poets in the early 21st in both Britain and America as well as Australia at a time when spiritual consciousness is more important for us than ever; not simply as an inward or private language, but as a way of actively seeing and reading what is going on in our world today at a time of critical personal and political transition. This unique anthology (400pp), co-edited with Andrew Harvey, names and celebrates this impulse and focus, taking poetry beyond social realism towards the Source which is both our origin and transformation as human beings. At the same time, it is deeply political and ecological, critiquing the restrictive ideologies that limit our minds, our freedom, and our compassion. Poets include William Stafford, Robert Bly (now 90), Jeni Couzyn, Andrew Harvey, Dorothy Walters, Janine Canan, Gabriel Bradford Millar, Aidan Andrew Dun, Thanissara, Niall McDevitt, Rose Flint, Thomas R. Smith, Irina Kuzminsky, John Fox, and Philip Wells. It has global reach and emphasis towards what it means to realize ourselves as 'One World People'. The contributors of Diamond Cutters are poets famous and obscure, living and dead, who have come together from points across the globe to present this work, which is being hailed as “Neo-Metaphysical Verse” for our times. “Neo-Metaphysical Verse,” is that which opposes directly the bathetic, the ugly, and the trivial, that have manifested so broadly across our world. Diamond Cutters provides a move to end that regime, clothed simply with the truth and beauty. (Andrew Harvey and Jay Ramsay Diamond Cutters)

Diamond Cutters: Visionary Poets in America, Britain & Oceania

HARVEY, Andrew

Ramsay, Jay

Ms. Tyner's recall is so sensory, her imagination so rooted, her language so up front, and her sensibility so rounded, that she has no need of the merely fanciful. There is no glitz for looks here, no trading on fragility. This book will knock your socks off. ―Marvin Bell, National Book Award Winner for Poetry, Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, Winner Jessica Tyner masterfully evokes the gut-punch of human existence, wielding sharply crafted words that bound like a familiar melody threatening to bend out of tune with every revelation. ―Jared Goode, Playwright Orange is the New Musical ORYGUN takes you home, marrying confessional poetry, while tapping deep into the reader’s cravings for a full literary experience. This collection of narrative poems touch on how the landscapes that helped raise us also shape us, the intricacies of love with ourselves and others, and shared human struggles of hope and desire, as we teeter on ever-changing, emotional edges. We invite you to enjoy powerfully evocative and beautifully written poems from Jessica's third book of poetry, ORYGUN. Why ORYGUN? “It’s Ory-gun, not Ora-gone.” Native Oregonians―or those who have assimilated impressively well―have given this admonishment numerous times. How a person pronounces “Oregon” tells you if they’re a local or not. Jessica Tyner, born and raised in Oregon, grew up seeing the famous ORYGUN bumper stickers. As you meander father north towards Portland, you’ll spot a peppering of “It’s Willamette, dammit!” stickers mixed in with the requisite “Keep Portland Weird” commands. Yes, Oregon is a state thick with cities, streets and rivers with unusual, often Native American-inspired, names and pronunciations from Couch (“Cooch”) to The Dalles (not “Dallas”―that’s another city in Oregon!). For Oregonians, correct pronunciation of the gorgeously green state is more than a matter of pride. It’s a slight nod to the rich Native American history of the region, and also a bit like a secret password to a very exclusive club.

Orygun: Poems

Tyner, Jessica

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Smooth Stones Pr publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Smooth Stones Pr

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Smooth Stones Pr publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Last Exotic Petting Zoo

Flying With Broken Feathers

Observant Observings

The Weight of Snow: New and Selected Poems

Flying With Broken Feathers

What Makes an Always

The Weight of Snow: New and Selected Poems

Diamond Cutters: Visionary Poets in America, Britain & Oceania

Orygun: Poems