At age sixty-two, Marsha Pincus finds the container of "wife-mother-teacher," which held her life together for the past thirty years, breaking into pieces. She begins a practice of composing one haiku a day and sharing them on Facebook, attracting hundreds of followers who comment and write their own haiku in response. The haiku become a way for Pincus-empty nester, retired educator, and restless wife-to capture and rearrange the fragments of her shattered identity. In Finding Beauty in a Broken World, nature writer and memoirist Terry Tempest Williams writes, "A mosaic is a conversation between what is broken." Pincus, a collage and mosaic artist, breaks her life into shards of seventeen syllables, allowing them to re-member themselves in new and surprising ways.
Part divination, part creative inspiration, part spiritual journey, Holding Up the Moon invites readers to engage the slivers of Pincus' story and use the haiku for bibliomancy, writing prompts, or inspiration for their own self-discovery and creative expression.
Marsha Pincus awakens us to the power of brevity in storytelling-how much can be said in so few words, and how beautifully. Her memoir is as much about the power and mystery of language and imagery as it's the story of how one woman moves through life, with a heart that's both broken and brave enough to love still and again. Keep oxygen nearby, because every page will steal your breath away!
Jennifer Leigh Selig, co-author of Deep Creativity: Seven Ways to Spark Your Creative Spirit
I feel such gratitude for Marsha's haikus. They are an invitation: a poetic exploration of the evolution of Marsha's soul, and an invitation to the images that connect us all.
Carla A. Kleefeld, Ph.D, Psychotherapist, Educator
Marsha's haiku are so lovely, and speak of the shadows in a woman's soul.
James T. Baker, Singer/Songwriter
Marsha writes with such beauty that I am overwhelmed with a sense of gluttony. She invites us to dream along with her as she writes of family images buried in our flesh, the scars of lovers inscribed on our hearts, and the ever-persistent emotional desires rolling in our gut. Her haiku remind me of a Canto Hondo, a Flamenco-style song that emanates from the very depth of a person's soul.
Shirley Munoz, Ed.D., Teachers College, Columbia University, Educator
