Hug Me Anyway (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781950251186)

Hug Me Anyway is a collection of forty slightly irreverent poems exploring life in all its foibles. The opening poem, Apology in D Minor, is a reminder that there is little in this world that offers as much comfort as a hug-even "half a hug will do."

The whimsical Who's on First searches for a missing middle name. Big Girl Panties warns of a naked woman roaming the streets. Hoops and Hurdles questions if the "best game plan is just to get on with it" because "there doesn't appear to be a way back in." "Close Apart is subtitled, "A Sad Dolly Parton Country Song." The verses read like lyrics. "We're in this together, so close apart. We make love with passion but not with our hearts."

Ordinary objects, a pen, a leaf, a rural outhouse, take on new dimensions in This Pen, Magic, and The Necessary. Signs to Ponder yields to a humorous turn with alternate views of everyday road signs: "CAUTION WATER ON ROAD DURING RAIN. Road dry when sun shines?"

Somber aspects of life: anger, depression, dying, and death are tackled with raw honesty. The poem Gone digs into why we need so many euphemisms for the end of life, asking, "Do cliches hold grief at bay?"

One review by author Errol Laborde states: "Barbara Sillery brilliantly puts the language through the paces displaying pathos, humor and lots of thoughtfulness."

And in the final poem of this remarkable collection, the author urges readers, "What soothes your soul...DO THAT!"