Book excerpt: Midnight_Muse/Venerated Verse a collection of poems by Betty Bownath, is a kind of Dantean exploration into the deepest recesses of the human spirit and like Dante, she emerges into light after harrowing experiences of the earthly kind. The longest poem, On the Cusp of Rebirth, is an ambitious trek of one persons struggle with life and all that it throws at us. This is not a collection of cloying saccharine sweetness, but neither is it a refl ection of defeatism in the face of adversity. In fact what comes through is an honest look at ourselves and those with whom we surround ourselves; and what emerges is a portrait of ordinary lives on singular journeys. Some of the poems are whimsical observations of people in the routines of simple life experiences. These are poems that show an acutely observant eye for the ordinary and the spectacular. Trevor Lauten (Literary Critic and Proofreader) Hong Kong With the best words in the best order, Bownath tugs at our emotions in a poetry landscape vividly populated with familiar blooms of love, loss, friendship and family. Her poems reveal a solitary intimacy with the self, a love of life and a deep understanding of the human psyche. Lesley Shepherd Author: Shakespeares Global Sevens (New Zealand) Bownaths poems convey the tender depth of a modern woman transient in world cities evoking the question of home in poems like Refl ection and If Wishes Were Horses. She explores the deep emotions of pain, parting, loss, and sleepless nightmares in Escape and Revelation. Her poems are skilfully balanced between light and dark, the light-heartedness of Spring juxtaposed with a love-hate musing on Rain. Leela Devi Panikar Author of Bathing Elephants and Floating Petals www.leela.net