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

Tyner, Jessica

Poetry

Smooth Stones Press

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. (Marie Hanna Curran Observant Observings)

Observant Observings

Curran, Marie Hanna

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.

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.

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

Mehta, Jessica Tyner

144―ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR POEMS AND ESSAYS FOR GOD, LOVE, TRUTH, JUSTICE, PEACE, AND HIP HOP I STARTED THIS AS A LOVE LETTER TO HIP HOP which sustained me in almost every way from my teens all the way into my thir- ties. This book is a document of my growth as a writer, as a father, thinker and human being. Some of these poems are the arrhythmic rants of a 20-year-old idealist who is completely open to the world. Others are me bleeding dysfunction all over the page. All of these poems are mine―they are all me. Looking around at the world, right now the police are acting like lynch mobs, killing black people, men and youth at a rate of one every 28 hours.This is a continuation of the white supremacist trend to suppress black resistance. We must continue to resist by all means. We have to use everything inside us and within our reach to resist op- pression and to thrive. It is our duty to fight and win. This book is my first lasting entry to the fight. (Malcolm Shabazz Hoover 144)

144: ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR POEMS AND ESSAYS FOR GOD, LOVE, TRUTH, JUSTICE, PEACE, AND HIP HOP

Hoover, Malcolm Shabazz

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Books by Smooth Stones Press

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Smooth Stones Press 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

Last Exotic Petting Zoo

Observant Observings

The Weight of Snow: New and Selected Poems

Flying with Broken Feathers

What Makes An Always

144: ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR POEMS AND ESSAYS FOR GOD, LOVE, TRUTH, JUSTICE, PEACE, AND HIP HOP

What Makes An Always