An Olio of Poems

Life doesn't stay in one lane, and neither does this collection. An Olio of Poems moves through sixty-two poems written across a lifetime, dogs and dinner tables, faith and heartbreak, quiet humor and dark honesty, and finds truth in all of it. There is something for everyone.

Organized into nine sections, from playful looks at pets and everyday joys to raw reflections on depression, Christian faith, and the passage of time, this collection meets readers wherever they are. Each section closes with the author's own reflection on what inspired the poems within it. A closing section, Poems I Didn't Write, welcomes her husband Ralph Walton's poetry into the collection, a quiet testament to shared spirit. There is something here for the reader who wants comfort, the one who wants honesty, and everyone in between."

At the end of each section, the author provides background on each poem and its inspiration. Some poems are lighthearted. Some are dark and brooding. Except for the last section, all the poems are about Ms. Donato's truth, whether in content or emotion. An Olio of Poems is a memoir written in poems.

Author's note:

An olio is a miscellaneous collection, a hodgepodge of seemingly unrelated works.

In this book, you will find poems of many lengths, styles, and subjects. Some are funny. Some are serious. Some are light. Some are dark, very dark.

There are nine sections. Each one ends with background information about the individual poems. If you just read these without reading the poems, you would learn a lot about the author. If you read the poems without reading the background information, you may learn something about yourself.

I consider poetry to be a literary medium for the eyes and ears, as well as the mind of the reader. Look at the shapes of the stanza outlines. Look at the words themselves. Are they complicated or simple? Are they nonsensical? Do they contain eye rhymes, such as the words laughter and daughter. After absorbing the poems with your eyes, read them out loud, or have them read to you. What is their cadence? Is it awkward, does it flow like a sweet melody, or have the tempo of a march? Consider the sound of the words rather than just their meaning.