by Brenda M. Asterino

The poems in Pathways are divided into categories that express overriding themes that have continually presented themselves to Asterino as important in her life. Through her words, she expresses the need for cultural attitude changes including cultural priority shifts. Her greatest desire is for her grandchildren to have a fighting chance for a future. It is through several decades of writing and self-exploration that Asterino has learned to be more observant about the world and about culture. Most importantly, she has learned about how our awareness of others and how we treat others affects everyone else, everywhere.

Where to Buy

• Villagebooks

Product Details

• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 140 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1736535844

Reviews

…On a deeply personal level, Brenda Asterino shares the fact that, as a grandmother, she wants nothing more than for her own grandchildren to have a real chance in this world without peoples’ negativity—whether born with it or learned from other generations—limiting their chances. Through her ability to watch the world operate on a daily basis, Asterino is able to show that the treatment of others is a key issue in the state of humanity, the world, and whether or not we’ll
end up shooting ourselves in the foot before all is said and done…Read the full review here!

In the opus Pathways: Walking Through Creation, author Brenda Asterino seems not only to have covered Earth but the universe too! That below us, that above us, and so much of what is in between constitute her writing pad. From as early as 1954 when so many thought so much of the world could be compartmentalized to 2020-2021 when the pandemic and protests awakened so many to our interdependence and lack of equity and inclusion, the poet has been recording her thoughts, feelings on innumerable subjects, some of which we surely have thought similarly and others that might not cross our minds in a lifetime. Much is fascinating here. And though you may choose different paths, it helps us all to know that so many paths exist, that a variety of these paths can help and not impede humankind at a time when we need much help and guidance in countless ways.

You won’t regret allowing Pathways to lead you up and down paths familiar and unfamiliar as you read the book. You’ll not forget some of these paths and may indeed choose to investigate some further and perhaps forge a path or few of your own.

—Georgia S. McDade, Author of Outside the Cave and Observations and Revelations: Stories, Sketches, and Essays

This is an insightful collection that covers the scope of the micro-connections that ground, and bind us in thought, and the meta-external challenges that, with hope and perseverance, can inspire us together in action.

—AC Palmer

If you want to hold hands with the stars, unknown horizons, and the world of possibilities while firmly living in the practical realities of life, this profoundly intimate sharing is for you.

Brenda Asterino masterfully walks the reader through the complexities of life as she learns and grows from her joys, disappointments, tragedies, and insights.

Brenda’s thoughts through the years provide a backward glance at changing social and cultural mores as her own personal development emerges, then plunks us right in the middle of a one-hundred-year pandemic.

The scope of her sharing is tremendous. Brenda covers sixty years and touches on significant human reflections that help the reader ponder their life journey: why am I here, what have I learned, how can I help make things better?

As I concluded my prolonged and deliberative reading of Pathways: Walking Through Creation, I found myself asking the question—“what are my next steps?”

—Dixie Adair Budke, Ph.D.

Appearances:

KLOI – Lopez Island Community Radio – https://kloi-lp.weebly.com/pathways-with-brenda-asterino.html

Poetry Open Mic ft. Khemistry “Q” Williams