Robbie’s Inspiration – Guest Post: Embracing the Power to Live by Marsha Ingrao book tour #Poetry #booktour

Introduction

Today, I am delighted to share a post about Marsha Ingrao’s first poetry collection, Embracing the Power to Live.

Marsha is a huge supporter of the WordPress writing and poetry community and hosts Story Chat Digest on her blog, Always Write.

I encourage you to have a look at Story Chat and submit a poem, painting, or short story. You will find the guidelines and other details here: https://alwayswrite.blog/story-chat-2025-a-unique-blogging-program/

Now over to Marsha!

Guest post

Robbie, thank you so much for hosting me on your blog as part of the pre-sale launch of my new poetry anthology, Embracing the Power to Live. I credit Tanka Tuesday for the impetus to start writing poetry again and collating this eclectic collection of poems.

Last year, Colleen invited us to write about all the phases of the weather using different types of syllabic poems. I tried out several types of syllabic poems. One of the types I enjoyed writing the most was the haibun poem because I could chat in the middle of my poem. I’d like to share a couple of them from my book with you.

Picture caption: Cover of Embracing the Power to Live by Marsha Ingrao featuring a young girl stepping through a window and out onto an ocean scene.Dancing Blossoms

(from Embracing the Power to Live)

flurries of blossoms

pushed rudely out of the nest

dance across the streets

As I drove down Willow Creek Road in Prescott, Arizona, it was fun to watch the piles of blossoms scatter in a flock across the road in front of me. I wish I could have stopped and taken a picture. They were so cute playing together.

budding verdant leaves

dominate the growing stems

bursting at the seams

haibun

Like a cat walking sideways, the truth in poetry sneaks up on you. Once treasured by the masses in the past, poetry’s popularity has returned to the public, especially young readers and writers. As I’ve read your blog, Robbie, I’ve found other poetry writing challenges, including Esther Chilton’s Limerick Challenge each week. I love that kind of poem, too, because sometimes, poems are just for fun, like this limerick I’ve included in my collection, which was first published in 1994 by M.B. Designs.

Kitty’s Prize

(from Embracing the Power to Live)

kitty lands on my chest with a pounce

deposits her prize with a flounce

it’s two in the night

what is this?? – Bite Bite Bite

 at and mouse through the window

bounce, bounce

But life isn’t all limericks. We’ve talked a lot about the challenges of life in our blogs. You have achieved a lot of success in your life, as have most of your readers. Even so, I know you’ve had to overcome difficult times. Some are not as fortunate in how they’ve handled the bumps in the road of life. I pose this question to those readers.

Have you ever felt that you would never succeed? You’ve watched others achieve their dreams and thought, “They” have more talent, are smarter, richer, or prettier than I. They had better parents – you know, all the excuses. They are all lies. I know because I once believed them, too. One of the main reasons I wanted to publish Embracing the Power to Live is to encourage others who might be down occasionally not to give up.

This is the first part of a haibun, which takes you a short way along my adult journey, which moved me away from criticism and negativity into achieving goals and feeling successful.

Guiding the Magic of Choice

(from Embracing the Power to Live)

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Napoleon Hill

how does the magic

of success beat inside you

today’s wisdom says

if we envision our plan

we believe we can achieve

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” Ecclesiastes 9:10

our ears are attuned

to our inner compasses

our guiding beacons

wisdom evolved from the Greeks

follow our dreams to the stars

In my twenties, I wrote goals in my journals and reread them often. I worked hard to achieve them.

“The soul of the lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.” Proverbs 13:4

but what do we want

a new house, love of our life

a career, baby

to feed the poor, cure illness

write a spellbinding novel

We all have to do something with our lives. We have twenty-four hours a day for as many days as we live. Most of all, I wanted to finish my education and teach. We weren’t able to have children. Opportunities came that I couldn’t take. Other goals moved forward, and some goals were tossed.

what is inner light

a spark, fleeting idea

fluttering on air

engaging our intellect

focusing our fantasies

Haibun

Well-meaning people I love and trust have said discouraging and sometimes cruel things to me. But those words don’t stick, just like the doubts that may hold you back. The poetry in Embracing the Power to Live puts away the shame of not being good enough.

We only get one life, and I want to live mine with strength, joy, and purpose to the very end—and I want the same for you. Embracing the Power to Live isn’t a step-by-step guide to life. It’s a collection of poems that give you and me an outlet to grow, weep, laugh, and live together in harmony through words. I hope you will enjoy it. Reviews are always welcome, too!

Thanks again, Robbie, for allowing me to visit with you and your readers today. It’s been a joy.

Blurb

Embracing the Power to Live is a poetic journey of a woman’s perseverance despite life’s hard knocks. This collection taps into the true spirit of poetry—reaching ordinary people with the message that they are enough. Some poems hold profound meaning. Others are included simply for the fun of playing with words – a joy reborn when she stepped into the world of syllabic poetry.

Told by different authority figures in her life that she would never marry or achieve her dreams, the author defied the discouraging voices. Her poetry shatters shame uplifts the spirit, and encourages readers to embrace the strength to do the same

This collection isn’t a self-help guidebook—it’s an invitation to laugh, weep, grow, and live together, connecting hearts through poetry. Embracing the Power to Live is for anyone who seeks to rise above a spinning world to gain strength, perspective, and a new beginning.

Pre-order link on Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Power-Live-Marsha-Ingrao-ebook/dp/B0F6423PSJAbout Marsha IngraoPicture caption: Marsha Ingrao author picture. Marsha has long blonde hair and is wearing a pretty blue top. She is featured against a yellow background and is holding her small dog.

Marsha’s newest book, Embracing the Power to Live, a poetry anthology and memoir, is set to come out in late May or early June. She is the contributing editor for Story Chat Volumes I and II. Previous works include a chapter in This Is How We Grow (2023) by Yvette Prior, contributions to Sunflower Tanka, a Poetry Anthology by Colleen Chesebro and Robbie Cheadle (2024), and Images of America: Woodlake – Arcadia Publishing (August 13, 2015), available on Amazon. In addition, Ingrao published numerous poems and articles. She has blogged since 2012.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts, Teaching, and Administrative Credentials from Fresno State University. As a bilingual teacher, she earned a CLAD Certificate. While employed at Tulare County Office of Education, she earned her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Fresno Pacific University. At the county office, she developed curriculum for Migrant Education and later served as a History Consultant for the county’s Educational Resource Services.

Ingrao believes in lifelong learning. Today, she remains active as a blogger, writer, photographer, and history buff.

She grew up in Indiana and Oregon, moved as an adult to Colorado, then near the Giant Sequoias. After living in Arizona for four years, she and her husband, Vince, her dog, Goldie, and her cat, Moji, have recently returned to the land of the big trees in California.

You can find all of Marsha Ingrao’s books on Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CJ9ZLQ9C