Z is for Lisa Zaran:

For those who haven't played along before, the AtoZ Blogging Challenge asks bloggers to post every day during April (excepting Sundays), which works out to 26 days, one for each letter of the alphabet. In my opinion, it's the most fun if you choose a theme.

This will be my 5th year participating.

• In 2014, I wrote about evocative words. 
• In 2015, I wrote about my publication journey and the release of my first novel. 
• In 2016, I wrote about my favorite superheroes. 
• In 2017, I wrote about the places of my heart. 

My theme this year is Poets I Love all about some of the poets whose work has touched me over the years.

For my regular readers, you'll see more than the usual once-a-week posts from me this month. I'm having a great time writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them, too. Be sure to check out some of the other bloggers stretching their limits this month to share their passions with you, too. With over 600 participants, there is bound to be something you'd love to read.
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As was true for my entries for the letter I and the letter Q, I didn't come to this AtoZ project with a poet in mind for Z. So, once again, I took the opportunity to read someone new (to me). I found Lisa Zaran, an American poet living in Arizona, best known for her book, The Sometimes Girl.

If you've been reading my other posts in this series, then you already know that I am a sucker for an intriguing opening line when it comes to poetry. Zaran has some humdingers in this regard:

Death is not the final word.

-from "Talking to My Father Whose Ashes Sit in a Closet and Listen"

In the room

where I learned how to lie, 

-from "Rivers"

She said she collects pieces of sky, 

-from "Girl"

As if we have

any answers.

-from "Hair"

Simple, declarative, sure. Each of these lines caught my ear and eye and pulled me in, made me want to read the rest to see what that line might end up meaning when it was fully explored.  I'm so glad I took on this challenge which let me visit 23 old loves, and find 3 new ones. Thanks for traveling with me!