Prolific Pulse Press Podcast

Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

The Prolific Pulse is all about poetry and other writing.

  1. 2d ago

    Poet Talk with Sarah Merritt Ryan

    Sarah Merritt Ryan and I had a lovely visit, sharing about her new release "My Soul to Keep" and so much more! About the Book:My Soul to Keep is a deeply personal and spiritually resonant collection of sonnets that explores what it truly means to walk with God through the darkest seasons of life. Written primarily from a Christian perspective, these poems offer an intimate portrait of faith — not as a smooth and effortless journey, but as a living, breathing relationship that is tested, stretched, and ultimately strengthened through suffering.At the heart of this collection is a profound truth: hardship does not have to destroy us. Long-suffering, when carried in faith, becomes a crucible that deepens our connection to God and shapes us into something more resilient, more compassionate, and more whole. Faith here is not static — it ebbs and flows, wavers and steadies — and that honest portrayal makes these sonnets feel achingly real.Many of these poems are written from a woman's perspective, and several speak with quiet courage to the wounds left by broken relationships and the pain inflicted by others. Yet even these most tender and difficult places are held within a larger story of survival and grace.What ultimately distinguishes this collection is its vision of the final destination of enduring trial — not merely survival, but praise. To give thanks to God in the aftermath of suffering is portrayed here as both an act of healing and an act of liberation. Praise cleanses the heart of bitterness, loosens the grip of the past, and opens the soul to receive what God has always intended: wholeness, peace, and renewed purpose.My Soul to Keep is for anyone who has ever wrestled with God and refused to let go.Get your copy: https://www.prolificpulse.com/sarahmerrittryan

    Poet Talk with Sarah Merritt Ryan
  2. May 28

    Poet Talk with Jim Krosschell

    Jim Krosschell and I sat down for a discussion about his latest poetry book release "Man Afield" and more. About "Man Afield"Man Afield is a lyrical journey through the living world, guided by a backyard naturalist attuned to both wonder and warning. These poems chronicle spiritual and physical excursions into landscapes larger than any one mind or body — places where awe, joy, disorientation, and reckoning intertwine. Organized in six evocative sections, the collection:I. bears witness from a seaside deck;II. wanders through yard and neighboring woods;III. explores the shifting shoreline;IV. imagines the vast and restless ocean;V. surveys the scars of environmental damage;VI. honors home in its many meanings. Throughout, the poems dwell in the charged space where humans and the natural world meet. They examine our peculiar paradox: we are the only species that knowingly fouls its own nest — and the only one capable of choosing restraint. With clear-eyed honesty, Man Afield mourns the grinding erosion of precious places while celebrating the stubborn beauty that persists despite us — and sometimes because of us. From deck to forest trail, from tidal pull to smoke-streaked sky, these poems trace one person’s evolving relationship with plants, animals, weather, memory, and spirit. Intimate yet expansive, they invite readers to travel outward into the wild and inward toward belonging.​Man Afield is at once a field journal, a meditation, and a love song — to earth, to home, and to the fragile bond between them.Learn more and make your purchase: https://www.prolificpulse.com/jimkrosschell

    Poet Talk with Jim Krosschell
  3. May 28

    Poet Talk with Ed Ahern

    We're celebrating the release of Peculiar Perspectives by Ed Ahern. We sat down for a little while and talked about this lovely poetry collection and more. About the Book: Twenty-four glimpses into the absurd, the tender, and the beautifully human.These twenty-four short poems are personal rather than political, reflective rather than polemic-quiet observations shaped by a life that has been, at times, unruly, uneven, and richly human. They invite the reader not to debate or defend, but simply to recognize: to nod in wry agreement at the small absurdities, contradictions, and tender ironies that fill our everyday lives.Drawn from a long and garishly checkered journey-one navigated more by instinct than intention-these poems distill experience into brief, free verse moments. They could have unfolded as sprawling autobiographical narratives, layered with embellishment and softened by false modesty. But that is not their nature. The voice here leans toward the epigrammatic rather than the epic, favoring canapés over feasts-small, carefully offered portions meant to be savored, not consumed all at once.At the heart of this collection lies a lifelong devotion to language. Beyond family, the author's enduring love affair has been with reading, writing, and speaking words-finding in them both refuge and revelation. These poems arise from that relationship: an urge not just to observe life, but to shape it into something shareable. Many of these pieces have found their way into print and into the air-read aloud to audiences, sometimes more than once-where their quiet truths and subtle humor continue to resonate.The subjects are not grand events or sweeping declarations, but the small, often overlooked details that give life its texture: fleeting thoughts, peculiar habits, private contradictions, and the strange comforts we build for ourselves. Each poem captures a moment of recognition-sometimes amused, sometimes bittersweet, often both at once. Together, they form a mosaic of perspective: two dozen glimpses into a mind attuned to the eccentricities and quiet wonders that surround us.This is a book that does not rush. It lingers. It invites pause. It allows space for reflection, for a half-smile, for the subtle realization that what seems uniquely strange is often universally shared. There are no epic climaxes here, no sweeping resolutions-only the gentle accumulation of insight, the steady uncovering of meaning in the seemingly mundane.In these pages, we are reminded that life's significance is rarely found in its grandest moments, but in its smallest ones: the passing thought, the odd realization, the quiet acceptance. These poems offer not answers, but companionship-a recognition that we are all navigating our own peculiar paths, doing the best we can with what we notice, remember, and feel.This little book allows us to smile at the absurdities we put ourselves through, while also inviting us to slow down long enough to savor the moments that offer contentment. It is, at its core, a celebration of the imperfect, the peculiar, and the profoundly human.Buy this book: https://www.prolificpulse.com/edahern

    Poet Talk with Ed Ahern
  4. Apr 3

    Writer Talk with Darls Centola as she talks about her debut memoir "Finding Truth with Michael"

    Trauma therapist Darls Centola has written a unique, never-before-told story of young Michael Jackson and the relationship that changed both their lives, in FINDING TRUTH WITH MICHAEL: A Memoir of Friendship, Faith, and First Love, coming out on April 7th. Darls recounts her and Michael’s close, tender friendship forged during their time spent in a small, private high school in Los Angeles, where they held private Bible study sessions as teenage Jehovah’s Witnesses. Part memoir chronicling Darls’ and Michael’s secret friendship and spiritual bond as they both struggled under the weight of high-control religion, and part cultural lens, this book traces Centola’s path into—and eventually out of—an environment of high-control faith and spiritual abuse that shaped their lives. The memoir arrives amid a cultural shift toward understanding spiritual abuse, purity culture, and religious deconstruction. As a therapist, Centola has spent decades working with the complex impacts of adverse religious experiences and the restoration of personal sovereignty from authoritarian belief systems. As an author, she offers clarity, compassion, and an insider’s perspective on a rarely explored chapter in pop history. Centola would also love to discuss the intersection of celebrity, religious drama, and the clinical path to reclaiming one’s voice. About the author:Darls Centola is a licensed clinical social worker, educator, and EMDR consultant whose professional path has been shaped by the lived experiences explored in this memoir. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Hawaii and is based in Los Angeles, where she works as a trauma-informed therapist. Much of her work explores the impact of high-control belief systems and the process of reconnecting with self and self-trust.Learn more at www.findingtruthwithmichael.com

    Writer Talk with Darls Centola as she talks about her debut memoir "Finding Truth with Michael"

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The Prolific Pulse is all about poetry and other writing.