The intersection of land, culture, language and history lie at the foundation of this lyrical free verse chapbook, with themes of reconnecting and mindful awareness driving these carefully collected and arranged words forward.
Navigating an internal landscape of memory and emotion fragmented by emotional and neurological dysregulation, the poems return again and again to the earth, to the natural world for comfort and understanding. The sonic register and tone created by mindful word choices move the reader through a collection of imagery vignettes in a search for meaning. By carefully observing the plants, animals and elements of the creation we are all a part of, the anthropocentric ebbs to reveal the wholeness which that allows for.
It's not a surrender, it's assuming responsibility for how we move in and view the world around us, and accepting that we are a vital part of that reciprocal relationship. Just as words, and more importantly their sounds, have the power to damage and control, they also have the ability to unlock the traumas locked in our bodies and allow for healing. For everything taken, something must be given back, and for what was taken from the narrator, these poems are 'a gift for the mind, ' as poet James Stevens observes. Read these words aloud, let the light shooting through them invite you to lean in.