The Colour Of Hope: 'Poems of Happiness in Uncertain Times’ By Jen Feroze

 

The Colour Of Hope: 'Poems of Happiness in Uncertain Times’  By Jen Feroze.

Published 28th January 2021 by Troubador Publishing.

From the cover:

The Colour Of Hope is a poetry collection with happiness at its heart. The 45 poems inside were created during the first lockdown in the UK, at a time when finding beauty and comfort in the everyday seemed at once fraught with difficulty and vitally important. Each was written for a specific recipient, based on three things they guaranteed would make them feel happy. 

I received a wonderful range of briefs. From the beautifully universal - a longing for nature and freedom, time spent with family, summers spent in other lands - to the gloriously specific - snaffling a Toffee Crisp from the fridge late at night, Fleetwood Mac songs, making the perfect scrambled eggs, and Ceilidh dancing. 

The result is a collection of poems that serves both as a record of this intense and intensely strange year, and as an uplifting reading experience that will connect and resonate with a much wider audience than the individuals they were initially written for.

2020 will be one for the history books, a year that has created emergencies on many fronts, not least the emotional. 60% of adults, and 68% of young people in the UK reported a decline in their mental health during lockdown. As such, 20% from the sale of this book will be donated to Mind, to help provide a bit of light in these uncertain times.

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As part of the blog tour for Jen Feroze's beautiful poetry collection, I am delighted to bring you an extract to enjoy here:

For Gayle

The sky is stained with the soft pink of evening

and you ask me where I’ve been.

Look closely, and you’ll see

waves cresting behind my eyes.

Let me paint you a picture with sea glass

and sand treasures. Gently gnarled driftwood,

a mosaic of mussel shell pieces,

the bluest blue there is.

Sit with me a while in the garden,

let me tell you a story of the ocean’s music.

Of pale sunlight and salt air that raises

the hairs on my arms. Of the low cliffs

starred with daisies and sea thrift.

We’ll sip lemon-scented tea,

while the bees play drowsy symphonies

among the young flowers,

and the sun slips away to other gardens,

other distant shorelines.

Jen Feroze, The Colour of Hope

The Colour of Hope is available to buy in paperback now from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Isabelle Kenyon of Kenyon Author Services for kindly sending me a an e-copy of this book and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Jen has been in love with language for as long as she can remember. A former Foyle Young Poet of the Year, her poetry has appeared in national and international journals and anthologies. The Colour of Hope is her debut collection. Jen is a bookworm with a love of baking, conversation that makes your brain fizz and really good cheese. She lives by the sea in Essex with her husband and two young children.