About the Book
From the darkly humourous to the quietly reflective, Hertzberger's poetry takes the reader on an eclectic journey between past revelations and imagined futures; from stormy skies to peaceful Sunday afternoons.
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This book is a delight - poignant, deep, funny and evocative. Mark Herzberger's dry sense of humour and keen appreciation for irony sneak up on you with heart-piercing truths- some large, some small. His poems are full of commonplace scenes that suddenly metamorphose as he leaps seamlessly between the mundane, the surreal and the profound. Each poem is like a present you unwrap, thinking you know what it is, only to find it's something different-something more. His details are vivid, accompanied by a well-cultivated dexterity with imagery and metaphor. His frank humanity invites you in, sits you down, and makes you a cup of tea. You feel like you're hanging out with a good friend-one who continually surprises, enchants and sometimes perplexes with the scope of his insight into human nature and sympathy for our collective condition. You'll want to visit, again and again.
Carol Casey, poet, two-time Pushcart nominee and winner of the Stratford 2016 Open Mike Contest; author of "What Can Happen: family and other raptures of imperfection."
Crow's Foot gifts the reader a fast-paced, punchy romp through Hertzberger's marvellous world of curiosities, keen insights, and memorable observations. From the whimsical to the reflective, mischievous yet tender, these clever, intuitive poems dispense events and emotions with the delightful abandonment of tossed bird seed. With this, his first major collection, Hertzberger shines as the upstart crow, and the world of poetry is all the better for it.
David Stones, poet, author of "sfumato" and "Essays of Light" (Blue Moon Publishers)
About the Author :
Mark Hertzberger is a member of The League of Canadian Poets, The Ontario Poetry Society, Poetry Stratford and the Huron Poetry Collective. His first book of poetry, Fog & Mirrors, was published in 2019. Among other publications, his poems have also appeared in Denouement, published by Beliveau Books and The Leaf, published by Brucedale Press. Mark took first place in the 2008 Poetry Stratford Open Mike Contest and 3rd prize in the K. Valerie Connor 2024 Poetry Contest. He has read his poetry on CJCS Radio and at Culture Days festivals in Stratford, Ontario. Mark resides in Stratford with his wife, novelist Yvonne Hertzberger.
Review :
The poems in Mark Hertzberger's book Crow's Foot are at times whimsical, sometimes macabre, as they range and ramble over topics far and wide. Conflating a ghost story with a zoom chat; then we're in the forest; then at a graveside. Then we're a mouse in a painted meadow hanging on a waiting room wall in an ekphrastic poem. Sometimes close to his genealogical roots, sometimes far from the centre of his life, Mark's poems are always entertaining and illuminating and thought provoking and real.
John B. Lee
Poet Laureate of the City of Brantford, Norfolk County;
Canada Cuba Literary Alliance
This book is a delight - poignant, deep, funny and evocative. Mark Herzberger's dry sense of humour and keen appreciation for irony sneak up on you with heart-piercing truths- some large, some small. His poems are full of commonplace scenes that suddenly metamorphose as he leaps seamlessly between the mundane, the surreal and the profound. Each poem is like a present you unwrap, thinking you know what it is, only to find it's something different-something more. His details are vivid, accompanied by a well-cultivated dexterity with imagery and metaphor. His frank humanity invites you in, sits you down, and makes you a cup of tea. You feel like you're hanging out with a good friend-one who continually surprises, enchants and sometimes perplexes with the scope of his insight into human nature and sympathy for our collective condition. You'll want to visit, again and again.
Carol Casey, internationally published poet, two-time Pushcart nominee and winner of the Stratford 2016 Open Mike Contest; author of "What Can Happen: family and other raptures of imperfection."
"Crow's Foot gifts the reader a fast-paced, punchy romp through Hertzberger's marvellous world of curiosities, keen insights, and memorable observations. From the whimsical to the reflective, mischievous yet tender, these clever, intuitive poems dispense events and emotions with the delightful abandonment of tossed bird seed. With this, his first major collection, Hertzberger shines as the upstart crow, and the world of poetry is all the better for it."
David Stones, poet, author of sfumato and Essays of Light (Blue Moon Publishers)
With vivid imagery throughout, Hertzberger's poems convey an obvious love of words creating a truly cathartic reading experience. Although each poem feels deeply personal to the author, the universally appealing themes evoke a sense of nostalgia that draws the reader in by tapping into something innately familiar. Capturing the essence of life within the pages, and interwoven with a wry sense of humour, Crow's Foot is a thought-provoking, exploratory dive into the past as well as a poignant look at the present.
- Michael E. Smidts, Author, One Hundred Words
