Cupcake Day, Poems by Alissa Sammarco

In Cupcake Day, Alissa Sammarco pushes back against the world’s darkness to find the moments that are sweet and colorful.

Sample Poems by Alissa Sammarco

“I love to love a good poetry collection that resonates well after it’s back on the bookshelf. The good ones keep rattling for days or weeks; it’s the poet’s talent reflected in the reader’s long-term mental commitment to its truth. And Cupcake Day has consistently hummed under my mental floorboards since its very first read-through. Or, to borrow from the knife-like sharpness with which Alissa’s images cut: ‘downstairs, radiation leaks / through cracks in my heart.’ Cupcake Day describes the events and mental state of a speaker going through cancer treatment, and the harrowing existential struggles tethered to that experience. As the speaker struggles with control over their situation, Alissa expertly unpacks the fine details and internal strife—we get witness the speaker’s evolution, even as they draw ‘closed the curtains / against the loneliness of cold, / against the endlessness of lonely.’ It is a heartfelt journey riddled with truth, poignant symbolism, and deep empathy for those who struggle with chronic illness. And it is one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys vivid, finely tuned poetry whose high quality will keep it coming back again and again, much like the basil in the speaker’s garden.”—Jeremy Jusek, author of We Grow Tomatoes in Tiny Towns and The Details Will Be Gone Soon

“Alissa Sammarco’s Cupcake Day is vivid and moving, with a keen sense both of imminent loss and daily blessings. ‘The Architecture of Oncology’ approaches cancer treatments by focusing on the building itself where ‘Ghosts walk back and forth / reflected in the waiting room windows.’ Her poems seek new angles and fresh perspectives, as when an account of finishing radiation treatments (‘the giant claw with its pointed fingers / shooting gamma rays until something inside boiled over’) answers the doctor’s repeated ‘Congratulations!’ with the poignant ‘Where’s my cupcake?’ Despite the gravity of its theme, the collection is rich in imagery—‘Barefoot trails / and blackberry stains / on fingers and face, / green mock-oranges / low on thorny branches’ and ‘He watched as deer rutted and pulled up saplings / looking for true love’—illuminating moments of grace, laced with humor, that the reader can share.”—John Philip Drury, Author of The Teller’s Cage: Poems and Imaginary Movies

“‘Are you ever / afraid that we / will evaporate / the way rainwater / tears on rosebuds?’ the speaker questions in Alissa Sammarco’s Cupcake Day. Here, is a poetic eye attuned not only to the seasons of nature, but also to the ebb and flow of relationships, and most significantly, to both the failings and resiliency of the human body. Each, we are reminded as the persona undergoes radiation treatments, can ‘break down, / cell by cell.’ Amid motifs of waiting, silence, and loneliness, Sammarco offers hope, a view of savoring ‘what’s left’ after surviving what has changed us.”—Hayley Mitchell Haugen, Editor Sheila-Na-Gig Editions

“Perspective tends to touch different scopes of life when you are going through treatment for a life-threatening illness. From a younger memory of your father, the evaluation of the romance between your partner, to the many Easter eggs nature leaves for us. Alissa Sammarco’s Cupcake Day is a poetry collection that journals such moments with simplicity while providing numerous avenues of afterthought. Her storytelling comes through with each piece representing a snapshot experience. Filled with articulated emotion and specific imagery that takes you just where the photo was first taken. Alissa’s personality embeds itself in this chapbook with undaunting vulnerability, confidence, and humor, all while having full control of language and the elements of poetry that contributes a reminder to us of why we still read stories.”—SoL, Writer, Rapper, Singer, Poet, Speaker.

Alissa Sammarco is a writer and attorney who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has lived all over the country and has spent her life being captivated by the beauty of the American West and South, as well as the woodlands of the Ohio River Valley. This beauty helps fuel the vivid imagery in her work. She studied creative writing and economics at the University of Rochester, and returns to poetry from her career in law. Alissa’s poetry has appeared in numerous print and online journals including Sheila-Na-Gig, Black Moon Magazine, Evening Street Review, Hags on Fire, and more. She is the author of three chapbooks: Beyond the Dawn, I See Them Now, and Moon Landing Day. You can find more information and order books at www.AlissaSammarco.com.

ISBN: 978-1625494740, 30 pages

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Also by Alissa Sammarco:

Beyond the Dawn

I See Them Now

The Waiting Room