In "Jewel Box," Annie Powell Stone seeks a new (old) perspective: the childlike wonder that sees each “tiny true moment” as a gem to hold and treasure. As the poems unfold over the course of a day, she examines the small moments in motherhood to make sense of the world and find her fullest self. The refrain “What beauty can be found?” directs her attention—and readers’—to the glimmers in everyday life: her son’s light-up shoe, wildflower bouquets, a sunset. Stone’s poems shine as brightly as the beauty she writes about. These gentle, hopeful poems provide the “sweet warmth of connection” that we all too often overlook. By collecting “the beautiful minutiae of this absurd life” in "Jewel Box," Stone nudges readers to look for the tiny miracles in our own day to day.
Carolina VonKampen
Freelance book editor and Capsule Stories Publisher and Editor-in-chief | Carolina's website
"Annie Powell Stone’s "Jewel Box" captures in words the magic of the mundane that surprises the soul during those quietest of moments."
Todd Gray, PhD
University of Southern Mississippi
"'Jewel Box' is an exquisite trove of the intimacy and intricacies of daily life. I found myself wanting to sift through this collection slowly, to return again and again to bask in its quiet moments and marvel over Annie Powell Stone’s unique ability to capture the pain and pleasure in life’s pauses. Against the clamor and chaos of our current time, these poems are a deep breath, a warm hug, “heart-achingly beautiful / gifts” that compel you to look more closely at your own life to discover the vast landscape of small treasures hidden beneath the surface. “What beauty can be found?” Stone asks repeatedly in "Jewel Box." This collection is the answer to its own question and I am so grateful to Stone for sharing her bounty with us."
Thanks to Claire Taylor and Annie Powell Stone for sharing their beautiful, clever, and biting poetry with us. These two gems somehow took their experiences of motherhood + the pandemic, two challenges many of us know too well, and crafted them into language that brought out our every emotion, and reminded us of just how human we are.
[These two chapbooks] invite readers to witness the interactions between nature and the cityscape, joy and sorrow in our everyday lives and surroundings. Blending self-reflection and observation, these collections of poems offer a meditation on how our lives are shaped and changed by the places and people we call home.
Enoch Pratt Free Library
host of poetry reading event at the Hampden branch