What do you think?
Seeds of the Pomegranate
POET magazine says of Ms. Ross' poetry that she is able to "extend the everyday moment into deep mythology, using the commonplace as an avenue into the emotions." In SEEDS OF THE POMEGRANATE, Sherry uses the ancient Greek myth of Persephone as a metaphor for her own life. In the myth of Persephone, which is retold in the book's forward, Persephone is abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld. Her mother, the earth goddess Demeter, is both grief stricken and enraged at her daughter's disappearance. Obsessed with finding her daughter she neglects her duties and the land dries up and becomes cold, the leaves fall from the trees, and death hunts mankind. Eventually, she confronts Hades in his world of the dead and they make a bargain. Hades has come to love Persephone and recognizes her suffering when he sees her joy in being reunited with her mother. Persephone has only eaten six seeds from the pomegranate fruit since her abduction. Demeter and Hades agree that Persephone may spend six months above ground with her mother and six months in the world of the dead with Hades. Persephone accepts the compromise and becomes both the Queen of the Underworld, sharing the throne with her husband, and a symbol of rebirth, fertility and joy, when she returns to the upper world and her mother. In SEEDS OF THE POMEGRANATE, each poems is treated as a seed of this fruit on which the bargain was made. The poems moves from summer to fall and contain the nostalgic sense of loss we all sometimes feel in our lives: losses both concrete and hard to define. The winter poems move to the center of the book, where a few of the poems are as dark as Hades' world. Then, moving towards spring, we find healing and tenderness. Through the everyday process of loss and compromise, we can also find much to gain in growth and experience. Our relationships are fuller and we can also know joy.
- GenresPoetry
Paperback
Published April 29, 2000
About the author
Sherry L. Ross
4 books30 followersSherry L. Ross grew up in a home where writing and art were part of everyday life. She spent most days reading classic fantasy novels and writing poetry. Her first middle-grade novel, RETURN OF THE VINETROPES, is the fulfillment of a childhood dream. It combines her love of fantasy with poetry and prose. She has lectured on poetry and writing to middle school aged children. Ross is also the author of The Sorrell Ridge Cookbook and a book of poetry entitled Seeds of Pomegranate. In addition, she is the editor-in-chief of the Art Renewal Center, a non-profit foundation leading the revival of realism in the visual fine arts. Sherry Ross currently lives with her husband Fred Ross and their three cats in a house in the middle of the woods.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 19, 2020
I find poetry is like a pencil-sharpener for the brain - it focuses, hones and sharpens the thoughts. My favourite poets do that, and they also reach inside to move me and shift me to a deeper level of perception. I’m glad to say that after reading this beautiful and insightful little book, I’ve added Sherry Lazarus Ross to my very small list of favourite poets.
Seeds of the Pomegranate looks at the stages of life through the seasons. It begins with the poem Persephone and, passing through summer, autumn and winter, ends with the poem Demeter with its ‘flowering apple tree’ of spring. The poems, concise, cogent and graceful, celebrate women - mothers and daughters - and life itself.
Sherry’s book will sit comfortably alongside my favourites (mostly Victorian poets, but also the wonderful Australian poet, A.D. Hope), and will be one I reach for often!
Seeds of the Pomegranate looks at the stages of life through the seasons. It begins with the poem Persephone and, passing through summer, autumn and winter, ends with the poem Demeter with its ‘flowering apple tree’ of spring. The poems, concise, cogent and graceful, celebrate women - mothers and daughters - and life itself.
Sherry’s book will sit comfortably alongside my favourites (mostly Victorian poets, but also the wonderful Australian poet, A.D. Hope), and will be one I reach for often!
November 27, 2020
I haven’t read much poetry since my school days, when the intense analysis we were forced to make stripped away all joy. But after winning a copy of this beautiful book by Sherry Ross, I made an effort to leave behind my prejudices and come at her work with an open mind—and what a wonderful way to return to art of words.
At first glance, the poems appear simple, but despite their almost economical form, emotion runs deep. I read through the collection over three days, but have returned to it many times since. The book now sits close to hand, and I find great pleasure in opening it on a random page to reimmerse myself in Ross’s magic.
All the senses are stirred within her verses, emotions too, and with the theme centred around the seasons of the year as a reflection of life’s journey (told through the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades) it leaves you with much to consider. I feel as if this collection will speak to readers of all ages, allowing each to find a connection to their ‘season’ as they journey through the book.
Thank you, Sherry, for allowing me to return to the art form of poetry with such a stirring and compelling collection. I'll treasure this book for years to come.
At first glance, the poems appear simple, but despite their almost economical form, emotion runs deep. I read through the collection over three days, but have returned to it many times since. The book now sits close to hand, and I find great pleasure in opening it on a random page to reimmerse myself in Ross’s magic.
All the senses are stirred within her verses, emotions too, and with the theme centred around the seasons of the year as a reflection of life’s journey (told through the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades) it leaves you with much to consider. I feel as if this collection will speak to readers of all ages, allowing each to find a connection to their ‘season’ as they journey through the book.
Thank you, Sherry, for allowing me to return to the art form of poetry with such a stirring and compelling collection. I'll treasure this book for years to come.
December 18, 2020
This is an intelligent yet accessible collection of poetry, dealing with themes of motherhood, loss, nature, garden and home, and rebirth. It’s filled with striking images and resonant language – and it looks beautiful too. It would make a marvellous gift for any poetry lover.
The book is thematically bound by two sets of poems. The first set – the opening poem, Persephone, and the closing one, Demeter – deals with the fear and agony of a daughter’s departure (to Hades no less!). As the poet explains in the introduction, Persephone was allowed by Hades to spend six months in the world each year – one for each of the six pomegranate seeds she’d eaten – as long as she spent the other six with him. In the closing poem the mother realises – as Persephone knows – that her daughter’s experience of the underworld is also an enriching one; to such an extent that she comes to realise she would have ‘offered you the seeds myself’.
The other set of poems that knit this collection together are about the forest as a place of transformation. In the first, ‘Light and Dark’ a running child finds the field has ended at a ‘party dress of hunter green’ where ‘the trance of sunlight breaks, brings forgetfulness of open fields, distant voices, summer games.’ But the girl doesn’t stop. She ventures on into the forest with its ‘palate of light and dark’. Then, towards the end of the book there is ‘In Galloway Forest, Scotland’, in which, whilst standing on a ‘precarious’ floor of a hundred years of pine needles, the poet feels the music of the forest and the ‘ecstasy of sky.’ Now she is no longer haunted by life’s trials but ‘returned with / so much to discover, so much to grieve, everywhere.’ It is a form of reconciliation, bittersweet, like the story of Demeter and Persephone.
This collection is full of strong poems. Other favourites include ‘View from the Boardwalk’, in which the grains of joy of children shouting on the beach are contrasted to the poet’s vague sense of grief and loss. There is a fabulous image of broken sleep – ‘here we swim like eels, / electric impulses in our own debris’. In ‘Whoosh and Gone’, whilst the secret things in the earth are casually destroyed by gardeners the poet is freed, maybe lost, to ‘a sky of boundlessness / a sky of whoosh and gone’.
I also loved ‘Touch Me’, in which the poet asks ‘How many times can the earth / withstand this ritual. The pain of being frozen / then thawed out.’ But as ever throughout this collection of dark and light, spring is the wake-up call coming ‘soft as the turn of earthworms.’ Just one more of the many stunning images in this wonderful book, already a favourite on my shelf.
The book is thematically bound by two sets of poems. The first set – the opening poem, Persephone, and the closing one, Demeter – deals with the fear and agony of a daughter’s departure (to Hades no less!). As the poet explains in the introduction, Persephone was allowed by Hades to spend six months in the world each year – one for each of the six pomegranate seeds she’d eaten – as long as she spent the other six with him. In the closing poem the mother realises – as Persephone knows – that her daughter’s experience of the underworld is also an enriching one; to such an extent that she comes to realise she would have ‘offered you the seeds myself’.
The other set of poems that knit this collection together are about the forest as a place of transformation. In the first, ‘Light and Dark’ a running child finds the field has ended at a ‘party dress of hunter green’ where ‘the trance of sunlight breaks, brings forgetfulness of open fields, distant voices, summer games.’ But the girl doesn’t stop. She ventures on into the forest with its ‘palate of light and dark’. Then, towards the end of the book there is ‘In Galloway Forest, Scotland’, in which, whilst standing on a ‘precarious’ floor of a hundred years of pine needles, the poet feels the music of the forest and the ‘ecstasy of sky.’ Now she is no longer haunted by life’s trials but ‘returned with / so much to discover, so much to grieve, everywhere.’ It is a form of reconciliation, bittersweet, like the story of Demeter and Persephone.
This collection is full of strong poems. Other favourites include ‘View from the Boardwalk’, in which the grains of joy of children shouting on the beach are contrasted to the poet’s vague sense of grief and loss. There is a fabulous image of broken sleep – ‘here we swim like eels, / electric impulses in our own debris’. In ‘Whoosh and Gone’, whilst the secret things in the earth are casually destroyed by gardeners the poet is freed, maybe lost, to ‘a sky of boundlessness / a sky of whoosh and gone’.
I also loved ‘Touch Me’, in which the poet asks ‘How many times can the earth / withstand this ritual. The pain of being frozen / then thawed out.’ But as ever throughout this collection of dark and light, spring is the wake-up call coming ‘soft as the turn of earthworms.’ Just one more of the many stunning images in this wonderful book, already a favourite on my shelf.
April 23, 2021
If you only read one poetry book this year, make it this one. “Seeds of the Pomegranate” by Sherry Lazarus Ross is a beautiful collection of poems loosely connected by the theme of the seasons and the change in nature from one to the other.
Skilfully woven verses carry the reader through the year of the poet which harken to the fable of Persephone and Demeter and there is a fullness to each poem. Each is a complete entity within itself, yet tendrils of thought carry from one to the next and gently move the reader with them.
There is a lot of the poet’s personality and life within the words, and you get a real sense of how three-dimensional and well-rounded a person she is. This is a person I would like to sit and converse with – maybe in the garden she describes so vividly – and together share a glass of wine and put the world to rights.
A truly lovely little book, one that is perfect for dipping in and out of, and one that would make an ideal gift for a loved one.
Skilfully woven verses carry the reader through the year of the poet which harken to the fable of Persephone and Demeter and there is a fullness to each poem. Each is a complete entity within itself, yet tendrils of thought carry from one to the next and gently move the reader with them.
There is a lot of the poet’s personality and life within the words, and you get a real sense of how three-dimensional and well-rounded a person she is. This is a person I would like to sit and converse with – maybe in the garden she describes so vividly – and together share a glass of wine and put the world to rights.
A truly lovely little book, one that is perfect for dipping in and out of, and one that would make an ideal gift for a loved one.
November 25, 2020
I find poetry to be the most complete and beautiful form of literature, the most difficult as well. Poetry, for me, equals sentiment, it rushes blood through my veins, races my heart, tingles my scalp. It heightens states within me I am constantly seeking to heighten - like a high, like a drug. To say I love reading poetry is to put things blandly.
But I seldom read contemporary poetry authors, which is a real shame. So it was with immense curiosity that I immersed myself in Sherry Ross's book, and it was with a fluttering of my heart I travelled through it, every single piece savoured like a rare, precious treat. This is a book to read once and often again, it is a book to return to when in need of having the soul stirred and emotions stirred. I will be coming back to these poems for the sake of pleasure alone, and am sure that as I grow and age, my comprehension of them will evolve and change, and new meanings will be found among those lines. That is the mark of very good poetry.
But I seldom read contemporary poetry authors, which is a real shame. So it was with immense curiosity that I immersed myself in Sherry Ross's book, and it was with a fluttering of my heart I travelled through it, every single piece savoured like a rare, precious treat. This is a book to read once and often again, it is a book to return to when in need of having the soul stirred and emotions stirred. I will be coming back to these poems for the sake of pleasure alone, and am sure that as I grow and age, my comprehension of them will evolve and change, and new meanings will be found among those lines. That is the mark of very good poetry.
November 25, 2020
Beautiful, simply gorgeous. Review to follow.
October 20, 2020
Read this masterpiece today and I am terribly glad I did.
First of all, the emotions this book has!! The author truly has an amazing gift with words because I felt everything truly deep. I felt happy and miserable, I felt understood as if the poems were written with my own words.
Second of all, I am a lover of greek mythology so reading this was a supreme gift in such a bad year as this. I love the new voice this author gave to the story that we all know so well: the story of Persephone. She took a victim of a tragedy and turned it into a fighter, a lover, a surviver and an example that we all have more strenght that we believe.
I totally recommend it to everyone who loves poetry and greek mythology, I'll be re-reading this beauty for years, because some poems just got into my brain and heart in a way that I know I won't be able to let them go.
Eternally grateful towards this author for reminding me why I love poetry.
First of all, the emotions this book has!! The author truly has an amazing gift with words because I felt everything truly deep. I felt happy and miserable, I felt understood as if the poems were written with my own words.
Second of all, I am a lover of greek mythology so reading this was a supreme gift in such a bad year as this. I love the new voice this author gave to the story that we all know so well: the story of Persephone. She took a victim of a tragedy and turned it into a fighter, a lover, a surviver and an example that we all have more strenght that we believe.
I totally recommend it to everyone who loves poetry and greek mythology, I'll be re-reading this beauty for years, because some poems just got into my brain and heart in a way that I know I won't be able to let them go.
Eternally grateful towards this author for reminding me why I love poetry.
September 1, 2022
An absolutely beautiful collection of poems filled with both whimsy and raw emotion. Sherry transports you with each and every poem. Such great journeys! I'm happy I purchased this one after reading her other poetry collection, "Falling Through Time". Again, thank you for sharing such delicate pieces of your soul.
Read
January 1, 2022Review to come!
May 20, 2021
What a delightful and inspiring collection! A wealth of beautifully described detail is used to explore the universality of the human experience. Every poem is full of arresting imagery that takes the reader on a journey into a different yet deeply familiar world.
Poems I particularly like are ‘Endings’ ‘Griefs’ ‘Looking back’ and ‘End of Summer’ but in truth all of the poems spoke to me on many levels. One of the longer poems, ‘View from the Boardwalk’, although set on the other side of the Atlantic, reminded me so vividly of my own childhood, and those feelings were captured in the final image ‘a grain of joy, melting on the tongue.’ I would argue that all the poems in the collection are just such grains of joy.
Highly recommended. A collection to read and re-read. I’ll certainly be doing that.
Poems I particularly like are ‘Endings’ ‘Griefs’ ‘Looking back’ and ‘End of Summer’ but in truth all of the poems spoke to me on many levels. One of the longer poems, ‘View from the Boardwalk’, although set on the other side of the Atlantic, reminded me so vividly of my own childhood, and those feelings were captured in the final image ‘a grain of joy, melting on the tongue.’ I would argue that all the poems in the collection are just such grains of joy.
Highly recommended. A collection to read and re-read. I’ll certainly be doing that.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews