Jamieson Wolf
Number-one bestselling author
The Road of Yellow Brick – A Poem
As I walked, I could see
yellow bricks being left
behind with each step.
They sparkled like real gold
in the afternoon sunshine.
I looked behind me,
watching as they formed
a path, leading back into
my past. I kept walking forward.
I held my partners hand
in my right and my
mothers in my left.
As we walked, the sun
overhead, casting shadows
into my eyes. One of the
shadows moved closer
to me, taking on shape
and form. Soon he, too,
was walking with us.
I knew who this was,
this dark shape, this
shadow form. He was
who I had been before.
He kept up for a while,
finding balance on the
road of yellow brick.
However, I was faster
than he was, stronger
than he’d been. Though
he kept up, he was lagging
and his shape was starting
to lose its clarity. As we
moved passed him,
I looked back one final
time to see him waving at me,
urging me forward.
“You got this.”
He said. His voice found me
upon the wind that blew
by me. The bricks were
brighter and I could still
see them in my eyes
when I turned to look
forward again. I would
always be on the road
of yellow brick, but
I would look forward to
what would come instead
of looking back at where
I had come from.
Squeezing both my partners
hand and my mothers, I said:
“We got this.”
I felt the ground tremble
and saw a sea of yellow bricks
erupting from the ground
like flowers. I would just
have to keep walking,
keep doing what had
once been impossible,
to find out where
the road of yellow brick
would lead me now.
Share the Joy – A Poem
I was getting
off of the
elevator when a
voice called out
from around the corner.
“Hello? Are you the flower man?”
I turned the
corner and spied
a little old
lady standing in
her open doorway.
She was the
neighbour I had
never seen. She
had a kerchief
on her hair
decorated with brightly
coloured flowers and
it was also
covered in sparkles.
“I must look a sight.”
She said, smiling.
“He called to tell me my flowers are coming and my hair was a mess. I’m sure I look horrible!”
She let out
a belly laugh
of a chuckle
and I smiled.
“No, you look beautiful. I love the sparkles.”
She reached up
a hand to
touch the kerchief.
“Isn’t it lovely? My great grand daughter gave it to me when I saw them last.”
“When was that?”
“Almost three years ago now. She’s grown up to be quite the lady.”
“I’m sure she has.”
She looked into
the hallway again
and smiled at me.
“I don’t know what’s keeping him. Maybe he got lost in the building.”
“Did you want me to go down and see if he’s in the lobby?”
I spotted a
walker behind her
and she was
holding onto the
doorframe for support.
“No need, dear, that’s kind of you. I’m just excited to get the flowers!”
Her joy was
infectious and I
smiled again, feeling
so much light.
“Is there a special occasion for the flowers? Is it your birthday?”
“No, dear, I stopped having birthdays when I turned eighty. No, the flowers are to celebrate the birth of another great grandchild! My grandchild Josie had another baby girl!”
“That’s lovely, congratulations!”
“That’s sweet of you dear. They said that since I couldn’t be there with them, I could at least share the joy.”
I thought of
the idea, sharing
joy with others,
even if they
are far away.
I thought of
this woman, my
neighbour, bursting with
so much joy
that it was
making me joyous, too.
“You tell them that that was a wonderful thing to do. What are you going to do to celebrate?”
She let out
a little laugh.
“I’m going to have a glass of wine, put on some nice music and look at my flowers.”
As if on
cue, we heard
the elevator doors
and a man
carrying the largest
vase of flowers
that I had
ever seen strode
towards us. I
smiled at him.
“She’s been waiting for you.”
When she saw
them, I thought
she would burst
from the joy,
her face shining.
Instead, it lifted
the spirits of
both the deliver
man and myself.
He had had
a grumpy look
on his face
before, but now,
much like me,
he was smiling.
“Oh, you do know how to spoil an old lady. Bring them into my dining room if you could and put them on the table. And dear-”
She reached out
and took my
hand, giving it
a little squeeze.
“Thank you.”
The door closed
behind her, but
her joy flowed
out of her
apartment in a
wave of sparkles
and light. I
rode the wave
of joy home.
Timeless Love – A Poem
I stopped wearing a watch
soon after I met you.
I used to have a
fascination with time,
though some would
call it an obsession.
Every moment was catalogued,
counted and allotted.
I had nearly one-hundred
watches, each keeping time.
I could hear them ticking away
from inside my jewelry box.
I felt as if time was
constantly slipping away
from me, as if it were
diamond sand that slipped
through my fingers.
When I met you,
time seemed to stand still.
We’ve been everywhere
together, travelled and seen
parts of the world that
I had only dreamed of.
We’ve grown together,
each of us finally comfortable
in our own skin when we
hadn’t been before.
We’ve loved together,
redefining for each of us
what we thought love was.
It feels as if I’ve known you
for all of my life but it
has only been two years.
It’s been two whole years
Yet it feels as if
I met you yesterday.
Though it’s only been
a relatively short while
in terms of the great
expanse of time itself,
I can’t picture my life
without you. You’ve given me
a timeless love that, until now,
has only been found in books
or movies. You’ve proven to me
that real love, timeless love,
does exist. I have stopped
counting the seconds, minutes,
hours and days that make up
my life. Now there is only
the brilliant light of the future
and the time that we have
together.
Primal by Michelle St. James – A Book Review
Jenna Carver is still reeling.
After a shootout that almost cost her daughter Lily her life, Jenna is trying as hard as she can to make a normal life for Lily. Jenna doesn’t know if here life will ever be normal again. She hides instead inside her London flat, putting a wall between herself and the world, trying to keep the outside world at bay. This includes Farrell Black.
Jenna knows what her heart wants but her mind keeps getting in the way. Yes, her heart will love no other man aside from Farrell, but can she give her daughter a life filled with crime and murder when all she wanted to do is keep Lily safe from all of that?
For his part, Farrell is doing everything he can to make sure that Jenna and his daughter are safe. He would do anything, kill anyone that threatened their safety. The papers that Jenna found in Milan are hidden, but that doesn’t mean they are safe. When a man starts following Jenna and Lily when they are on their way home and threatens their lives, Farrell steps in almost killing the man.
He tells them that there are other people after the papers and that they won’t stop until they get them. Having delved into the papers, Farrell knows that the information they contain could mean the end of the world should the research fall into the wrong hands.
Farrell knows that the only thing to do is to keep Jenna and Lily safe. Flying to Milan, he takes Jenna and Lily to one of his houses. There the passion between Jenna and Farrell explodes once more and Jenna gives into it, knowing that it all might be too much. Would she rather be free from the criminal side of the mob? Or have a live with Farrell?
When someone close to Jenna is killed, they know that they must find out more information and unlock the secrets that are hidden. They have to find out more about the virus that has been created and how to stop it. It’s a bioweapon that could start a world war.
They, and the world, are running out of time…
I absolutely loved this book. Once again, Michelle St. James pulls out all the stops to give you a tale full of danger, passion and romance. However, her romance novels have something that I find to be lacking in a lot of others: it has tons of heart.
You actually care for these characters, you yearn for Jenna to give in to what we know her heart wants, you hope that Farrell will learn to forgive Jenna for her past deeds. The secondary characters also impress me and I want to know more about Farrell’s second in command, Leo as well as Jenna’s sister Kate. I also want to know more about Farrell’s brother, Evan. It takes a very talented author to make you fall for the main characters, but also for the secondary ones.
As well as the unending sense of danger within the novel, the passion that burns across the page, there is also a serious internal struggle inside of Jenna. How many of us can relate to what she is going through? That the heart knows what it wants but the mind and rational thinking try to tell the heart that it’s wrong. That the mind knows more about what’s good for you than the heart does, so you walk away from love. I know I’ve done that before and I know a few of you out there have as well. What we think we want isn’t necessarily what’s best for us.
The emotion involves in this novel, from the internal struggle of Jenna’s to the need to protect at all costs within Farrell, is primal in it’s purest form. The novel ends with a cliff hanger, assuring us that Jenna and Farrell will have to fight with all they have if they are going to have their happily ever after.
I can’t wait to see how it all turns out in the third book in the London Mob Boss trilogy, Eternal!
A Glass Full of Stars – A Poem
It has finally happened.
After seven years,
I have been able to
break free. Part of me
expected to feel sad
at the loss, but its
been seven long years.
That’s time enough to grieve.
All day, there was a sense
of euphoria within me,
rising to the surface.
I compared it to an earthly miracle,
something you wish for
but won’t happen until
you take matters into your
own hands. Behind me,
I could see the chains
whenever I turned around.
They were tarnished and old,
but they were broken
and lay behind me, scattered
like bread crumbs leading
to part of my past.
I knew I would never
go back there, would never
revisit that part of my life.
On the way home, a man
kept following close behind
me. I would turn and catch sight
of him out of the corner of
my eye and then he would be
gone. When I got home, I
came into my apartment
and found him standing there.
Looking at him, I realised that
I was looking at my younger self.
I was downtrodden,
I was cut off from everyone,
I was alone, even though
I was supposed to have love.
Holding out my hand, I said:
“Why have you been following me? I thought I left you behind.”
He nodded, smiling at me.
“You did. Today, we’re both free.”
I watched as a light began
to build within him, filling him
with a brilliance that shone.
I was astounded to feel the
light inside of me that had
been building all day respond
to the light of my past self.
I looked at who I had been
and embraced him; he was still
a part of me. Part of who
I had become. I felt his
light enter me and felt whole.
He pulled back and looked
me right in the eyes.
“Never be ashamed of your past mistakes. Just embrace your future.”
He began to shine even
brighter and the chains that
were wound around both
of our wrists, the last of them,
glowed a brilliant blue
before breaking away.
He began to fade, but before he
did, he said to me:
“Have a drink for who you were, who you are and who you will become, okay?”
When he was gone, I stood there,
free and whole once more.
I would be raising a glass
filled with stars
tonight.
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Jamieson Wolf has written a compelling story about navigating multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. His story will touch your heart, make you cry, then laugh, and inspire you. A touching memoir with a bit of magic…and tarot! ~ Theresa Reed, author of The Tarot Coloring Book
Jamieson Wolf 