The Colors I Hear
2024 Silver Winner in the Nautilus Book Award for Lyric Prose/Hybrid Works
2023 Seasonal Winner for PenCraft Book Award for Literary Excellence
2023 nominated Pushcart Prize for her poem "The Moon in All Her Ways"
THE COLORS I HEAR is Carolyn Riker's fourth full-length book of poetry & prose. This book is soaked in nature, creativity, imagination, and dreams-- the root of a Highly Sensitive Person. There are four sections: When a Bird Sings is how nature influences Carolyn's poetry. The second section, Welcome All Sides of You, honors aging. The third section, Highly Sensitive People, describes self-acceptance and appreciation as an HSP. And last, The Colors of Creativity is an assortment of poetry and prose to inspire your imagination. Published by Golden Dragonfly Press. To purchase a copy, visit Amazon, and soon (fingers crossed!) other independent bookstores. The cover art is by Ellen Brenneman.
Reviews
"A balm to the highly sensitive soul, The Colors I Hear captures the beauty and complexity of the HSP experience in a way I have never seen before. Carolyn's soothing presence will soothe frazzled edges, wrap you in deep understanding, and give you permission to live in alignment with your own needs. This book opens a doorway to reconnect with your sensitive gifts in the quiet spaces. Inspiring, soothing, and nurturing in so many ways."--April Snow, LMFT, licensed psychotherapist, and author of Find Your Strength: A Workbook for the Highly Sensitive Person
"Carolyn Riker's newest book, The Colors I Hear, uses language to paint a picture and a feeling all at once. Even then, it's more complex and multi-layered than one mere picture and one mere feeling simultaneously. Just captivating, truly. This is poetry and prose written for the sensitive soul. Her words are in motion and touch the heart. They moved through me and the depths of my being, ringing with purity and authenticity. After reading The Colors I Hear, my sensitive soul feels deeply seen and understood. I am inspired to listen to the call of my own creative voice and to soak in the balm of Nature in my own life." --Erica Sawyer, MA, LMHC, ATR, TIRF, Counselor, Art Therapist, and Writer
My Dear, Love Hasn't Forgotten You
"In this eloquent, quotable, heart-spoken collection, get lost and found in the blessings and burdens, the highs and lows, the illusions and reality, the outer journey and inner search of what it means to love, and to reap love's language, intoxication, medicine and fruits." ~ Tanya Markul, author of The She Book
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My Dear, Love Hasn't Forgotten You, is a full-length book of poetry and prose. This poetry book invites you to dream. There are four sections that melt into each other with ease. Carolyn's poetry is not ordinary and rarely follows the rules; instead, she becomes a stream of consciousness. "When we are river-like we flow. Nature connects us and grounds us with a love that will never forget us." In addition to those sentiments, Carolyn doesn't hold back with emotions. She wears them on her sleeve and dreams with them and you will become a part of this mystical mystery. "My Dear, Love Hasn't Forgotten You," is full, real, kind, deep, spiritual, caring and poetic. You will find yourself tantalized and hopefully it'll spark your own imagination's creative juices.
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This is Love
"Carolyn's lyrical words are like soft air moving through you, gently cleansing away the cobwebs and dust of the mundane." ~ Victoria Erickson, Author Rhythms and Roads
"Carolyn Riker's lush verse issues forth from her exquisite sensitivity to rich inner and outer landscapes. Marrying the two with luxurious strokes of words, her poetry overflows with scenic introspections and personal explorations."
~ Catherine (Ghosh) Schweig, Founder of the Journey of the Heart Poetry Project
This is Love is Carolyn Riker’s second, full-length book of poetry and prose. There are three sections where she conveys the art of self-love, how love is everywhere, and the invariable highs and lows of relationships. She writes about love from a field of colors as seen from her soul; it’s not all pretty. Her poetry gives you a range of betrayal’s bitter taste and how the heart aches coupling each section with her fondest companions: dreams, nature, art, and music. She instinctively relies on imagination and rekindles the depths of love’s astounding abilities. With full transparency, she writes from a place of what love has taught her and what love isn’t. "This is Love" will speak to you for it is ageless and true.
Blue Clouds
"Riker has always been a powerful and talented writer and poet, but in her latest volume of poems and musings, she has gone deeper into the human soul than ever."
~ Mitch Smith
Blue Clouds is Carolyn's debut book of poetry and prose. It is an unleashing and synthesis of one woman’s silent voice, now expressing a fertile repertoire of poems and poignant short essays. It is a collection of a soul’s deeper creative intelligence. Blue Clouds is a unique form of poetic syntax, divided into five pivotal points of inspiration: Nature, Soul, Dreams, Love and Shadows. It is undefinable and renders its readers with an unexpected connection to their own emotional exploration.
Book cover image by Mary Liz Austin, Donnelly-Austin Photography (c) permission granted.
Nominated by Golden Dragonfly Press for the Pushcart Prize in 2017!
Hidden Lights
Hidden Lights is an anthology and a collaboration of over 50 experienced and novice writers sharing their stories and poems from around the globe. The poignancy of each contribution covers the depths and widths of human experiences often kept secret. The words in this book are real, raging, and riveting. Readers will be captivated by the poetry and essays which plunge into the taproot of soul and the psychology of truths not often told. Each chapter details the bittersweet of humanity and crosses over stereotypes of gender, racial decree, suicide, justice, depression, grief, and wrapping an inclusiveness in the cusp of being seen and heard.
Edited by Carolyn Riker and BethAnne Kapansky Wright