In this unique poetry collection that fuses words and images, readers discover gentleness, creativity, eternal love and devotion, and other pieces of emotional sustenance. In poems like “Jamaica Pond,” readers venture into a landscape of “pond and pines” where worries and doubts quickly flee. Other poems, such as “Strength,” embrace the process of rebuilding one’s self after it has been wrecked and destroyed. These poems carefully explore the self and the relationships that make one’s life fruitful and meaningful. As it nears its conclusion, the collection returns to its central focus on nature in poems such as “A Winter’s Day,” during which “All the birds fly away from you,” and a brave speaker declares, “I am not the one who’s afraid of you.”

These poems are grounded in nature and its cycles. The natural imagery and the seasonal portrayals mirror the transitions and transformations of one’s life. Elements like the wind become forces the speaker continually recognizes and reveres. Accompanying each poem is a thought-provoking image. Ultimately, these images are poems without words, and the images give readers another entry point into each poem. Thus, this collection’s emotional and intellectual connections exist in the verbal-image duality each of its pages holds. Uniquely, this collection also contains a notes section in which readers can record their own thoughts, feelings, and responses. The notes pages are also an encouraging space where readers can begin crafting their own verses. This collection provides readers with a unique and new way to interact with these thoughtful, mindful verses.

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