Wings of the Same Bird

Wings of the Same Bird

Wings of the Same Bird is an impressive collection grown from the mythological idea linking birds and the human world with divine realms just beyond ordinary experience. The collection was the Winner of the IP Picks 09 Best Poetry Award. The poems connect birds with the journey of the human soul after death, representing them as primeval, cosmic, legendary, as messengers of the deities, symbols of war, death and misfortune, but also as profound harbingers of strength, love and wisdom. The poetry collection also handles grief from an objective, elevated and (excuse the pun) ‘bird’s eye’ perspective. Wings of the Same Bird takes flight into that realm of human knowledge and experience we recognize as our birth right or perhaps death right: a seeing that is both un-illusioned and dis-illusioned. We have, in other words, the world as it is. Drawing upon a lifetime of memory, these poems speak plainly and directly of past experience and present sorrow. In particular, in carrying forward what she calls the business of a widow s heart, we have such an affecting account of love and loss that we are left rejoicing in life. --Paul Kane, Antipodes The wings of a bird are grafted irrevocably to the body that moves between them. In Wings of the Same Bird , the oppositional but intertwined states linked to these wings of life, of death are beautifully combined. This is a woman who knows of grief and has learned how to make something of it that sings. --Lyn Hatherly, Australian Poetry Centre Tracy s pictures slip me right back into that feeling of the Grace of God that I felt on visiting Australia and she captures the way nature reveals the Divine through her very being. I see them as a kind of contemporary spiritual teaching, to take us deeper through her visual revelations of the soul of the great continent that is Australia. Her inspiring quotes combined with the images are a delightful wake up call to wake up to Life itself. Rev. Peter Lloyd, interfaith minister, editor of Positive News Hong Kong --Rev Peter Lloyd Lorraine has read her poetry at Melbourne venues like Molly Bloom's, Melbourne Poets Union, The Dancing Dog and The Society of Women Writers (Vic); also in Ballarat, Castlemaine and Guildford. She has been a Featured Reader in several Writers Festivals. Her first poetry collection, What the Body Remembers, shared 2nd place in the Anne Elder Award 2004. Extracts were read in three ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Poetica programs. Two years after her husband's death, Lorraine joined the Ballarat Branch of Solace and recently undertook training as a Support Worker. It is most rewarding to help those who are widowed, the way she herself has been helped.