Böcker av Cheyanne Leonardo

firebird rises and speaks to the sun.this happens every sunday. andall day all birds chirpof nothing but this, nothingbut the fire reaching skywardbig beak bursting openand spelling over and over againthe bird's word for light.the sun, slowly bornby the song of each letter -each spelling, each spilling of soundout from the mouth - basksin the glow of its eternal growingand sends firebird back knowingthe light his musicbrought into beingwould be delivered so long as earth stayed singing.-the first sun song

From little town poet Cheyanne Leonardo comes her first community-based collaborative writing project, Hometown Poems: A South Fork Country Anthology of Poetry. Featuring poetry and photography from over 100 authors and artists in and around the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, this anthology captures a portrait of small-town life in the Appalachian Mountains, created by and for the people who call these woods home. Each poem and photograph included in Hometown Poems has been carefully placed, piece by piece, to construct an uninterrupted narrative - a poetic reverie comprised of our shared stories of love, loss, beauty, heartache, healing, darkness, and unwavering faith. The result is a wholly original work of art that will preserve our memories, values, and ways of life for generations to come. More than anything, this anthology proves that art and spirit are alive in our hills, that each and every one of us has something special to contribute toward the greater project of being human - here, all together, in this mystifying place and time. This symphony of voices echoing together from every nearby holler and hillside reveals that we have something valuable, remarkable, and even magical to offer this world. In other words, our stories matter, and they are ours to tell.Hometown Poems: A South Fork Country Anthology of Poetry is a gift to our contributing small-town communities, and to you - whoever you are, wherever you're from - as you will undoubtedly see your own heart reflected in these words. We are all one, as much as we are each unique: this is our hillbilly anthem! Together, let us imagine a world in which such truth is our guiding light. Contributing authors and artists: Abbie Duncan, Ace Glaspy, Adelynn Rivera, Alise May, Allie Wall, Allison Baker, Amanda Massengale, Amber Sparks, AmyLynn Arrington, Angelia Ross, Annie A, Anonymous, Artemis Moon, Ashlee Glaspy, Banner Ritchie, Betty A Hathcock, Betty Shreffler, Blue Heron, Bobbie Foster, Brooklynn Miles, Caden Chaney, Cari Lynne King, Carl Shafer, Charlotte Marlow, Cheyanne Leonardo, Chris Boyatt, Codie Lackey, Colton Cordell, Courtney King, Courtney Pratt, C. Turner, Dan Saint Dan, Debbie Stansberry Faires, drdeb, Dylan Ayers, Earl Rash, Eli Morrow, Eric Faires, Erilynn Griffith, Felicity Nelson, Flossie King, Fox, Gabriel Valladares, Ginger King, Grant Swain, Hannah Nelson, Harmony Elizabeth, Holly Daugherty, Jacelynn Sexton, Jacob Byrd, Jade Foster, Jaelyn Phillips, Jesse W. King, II, Jessica Rash, Jessi Carling, Jessy Morrow, Joseph Thomas Baker, JP Schuffman, Justice Glaspy, Kaitlyn Russ, Katherine Cross, Kerrigan Hart, Kristen Kilby, Kristen Reid, Kristian Obrusanszki, K-Roo, Laura A. Clift, Lisa Cotton, Makayla Sexton, Mark Hargis, Melissa Capps, Mellisa Pascale, Micah Keeton, Michelle Ayers, Moriah Bowling, Patricia Chace, Paula Leftwich, Presley West, Pyper Anderson, Railey Smith, R.A. Reynolds, R. Clift, Ricky Lee Jeffers, Robert Queener, Roland Russelburg, Rubyann Melton, Rylan Duncan, Sadie Bell Price, Sandra Tritt, Shane Gilreath, Sharon Leonardo, Simon Poe, Stephanie Duncan, Stephen Phillips, Tiffany Kimbrell, Trinity Smith, Ty Humble, Vega Rochat, Whitney Swain, Zack Smith, Zeke Harness

From the romantic and mystical little town poet Cheyanne Leonardo comes death deceived, her third collection of poetry. Inspired by her Appalachian mountain town and others like it across the country, this book reveres the magic and radiance that exists in the most unexpected places - a brightness that can be seen and felt, if only we would take a step outside, wherever we are, and shift our focus gently up. These poems are a celebration of the unrelenting light that shines through an abyss of darkness, the divine energy that conjures new growth out of ruin and decay, the songs of hope that emerge from endless empty skies. Each day, the shadows give way to the sunrise and love bursts forth from the forgotten caves and corners of our lives. If we can learn to trust in this eternal truth, we may discover our heart's desire is never all that far away... Death is deceived when we surrender to the timelessness of love. Let us learn this lesson and live- before we die.

From emerging writer Cheyanne Leonardo comes her debut poetry collection, more than metaphor. Cheyanne wrote this collection over a period of several months after moving back home to Scott County, Tennessee, from Stuttgart, Germany, in the middle of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Upon returning home at the end of August 2020, poetry quickly became her only outlet to make sense of everything she was going through in a way that felt honest and real. Why did she confront such a strong desire to come home at this particular moment in time? What was it like to come back to a place that held so many memories, both treasured and painful? Who - or what - pulled her back into the fold of her little hometown, and what was waiting for her when she got there? How did her imagination both reflect and shape the emotional experience? Word by word, Cheyanne uses poetry to build entire worlds, and she discovers another kind of truth along the way - one that becomes meaningful and sometimes even magical. more than metaphor captures a journey of homecoming, of returning to a place she never really left behind and using the power of words to explore all that such an odyssey entails. Highlighting themes of love and romantic hyperbole, memory, reality vs. fiction, myth-making, travel, identity, language, and the act of writing - Cheyanne creates a portrait of herself as a writer and as a young woman seeking her place in the world.