Ars Poetica, by Karla Linn Merrifield

Download the collection here.

ars poetica by karla linn merrifield 3

sing to me as you pass through me, all
of me, my ten-thousand thoughts
of wishful thinking
we could be anything
—“ Tonight I Wish Of”

Karla Linn Merrifield’s poems are thoughts about thoughts put into poetic form. When you summon thoughts, you are making a different sort of reality that exists in your mind, your imagination, your reality. Hers lean toward meta poems. Birds figure often in her poems as physical and metaphorical imagery. Her metaphors are exquisite—see how she writes about grief in “Lode”. What stands out also is her fervour for female empowerment. There is a Dionysian spirit which she situates within form—a dialectic between spirit and form. She celebrates love, music, the human spirit, and poetry, in spades.

Twilight Fox, by Robert Walton

Download the collection here.

twilight fox by robert walton 2

The current’s curves
And star-polished boulders
Blend with the ease
Of long acquaintance—
So our friendship
Has flowed years long
—“Tuolumne Solitaire”

Robert Walton’s poems regale us with his mountain-climbing experiences. They speak of snow, cliff, lake, river, mountain, boulders, clouds, stars as unyielding but spiritual presences. His sight of the fauna and flora is on offer—fox, falcon, owl, hummingbird, sage, pine, lupine. His subjects shimmer with light. His language is like delicate paint-strokes. His astute metaphors mesmerise you. Nature’s beauty and spectacle is melded into personal witness and memory as he scales the summits.

Earth Bound, by Alan Toltzis

Download the collection here.

earth bound by alan toltzis

Here the task is harder:
look deeply and learn
the true nature of trees,

judge the strength
and weakness of people,
feel the promise of the land,

while squinting into the glare
of proximity
just beyond the horizon.
—“140,000,000 Miles Away ”

Alan Toltzis’s poems explore different aspects of the nature of the universe. They are close examinations, interrogations and extrapolations. His stories are earth bound. Nature, whether it be birds or trees, is transfigured by his language. The moon appears a lot in his poems too, as a dream motif, or perhaps a quest. Or a prayer. He brings the ordinary (such as forays into supermarket aisles) into grand narratives. In doing so he grounds us. He engages with the universe in both small and big ways.

Little Popple River, by Jeff Burt

Download the collection here.

little popple river by jeff burt

Some of us are meant to launch into the air
screaming as we head to who knows where.
–“Somewhere, Anywhere”

Jeff Burt’s poems are about journeying; what is gleaned from these journeys—both within and without—are learned, so every poem is perspicacious, is wrought with intertwined meanings, is a bridge between the past and the present. They contain passages of time. Such learning often takes place in the landscape of mountains, creeks and forests. The imagery of tools is ever present—trestle, ramp, tomahawk and so on–and language is also a tool, for bridging inner and outer worlds, between history and the present, animal and human, the dead and the living. His poems reflect empathy for the enslaved, the poor, the hungry, animals, mothers. So richly textured are they that they lead to crossings, epiphanies, transcendence.