Laurie Wilcox-Meyer's poems, Of Wilderness and Flight, rise out of a deep silence with measured cadence— like red-winged blackbirds from a stubbled field. Each jewel-like poem brings us to hover in place, in a present moment. Together they form an elevated reflection upon our place in the splendor and solemn darkness of the natural world. This collection is a treasure.
—Lorrie Jayne, Poet and Professor of
Modern Languages, UNC Asheville
Laurie Wilcox-Meyer's fine first collection, Of Wilderness and Flight, offers the reader a roadmap of the heart and of the actuality of place that is rare these days. Often the quite literal family (of Man) blurs the poet's more pristine vision, and she calls for aid—“Look...a whale of worries./ I breach for air that sings it own blood.” As the blood of others in Shakespeare is encountered with Out, Out, damned spot, this poet owns (with each line, each right word) a verbal clarity that is surely hers: “Flute boy..../ Music of the spheres swells from his eyes./ Drink this galaxy./ A universe is smiling.” Because this gifted poet is a classical pianist, a delicate music both guides and embodies every poem in this vibrant collection.
—Katherine Soniat, author of Bright Stranger and The Swing Girl
From the book:
Essence
In early April before they return,
the jeweled hummingbirds sip a magic potion in Mexico,
then zip back to these ripe mountains.
Or maybe their migration is more like a treacherous slog.
My lips, too, were so thirsty.
Drier than the desert they crossed.
When have I ever said that there is not enough
love in this world?
Isn’t their humming the only proof we need?
Born in Louisiana, Laurie Wilcox-Meyer now lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina. While at Northwestern University and Florida State University she studied piano and music theory. She worked as a counselor, facilitating parent-child communication and co-wrote a children’s book on the subject. Her poems have appeared in The Great Smokies Review, Kakalak, Artemis Journals, Wild Goose Poetry Review, and Birdsong Anthology—FootHills Publishing. Her chapbook, Circling Silence, was published in 2018 by Finishing Line Press.
Of Wilderness and Flight
is a 60 page hand-stitched paperbook with spine - $16.00
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