Poetry
The farms, fields and forests just outside my front door have always been a place of wonder, safety, joy, and discovery. My experience as a child doesn’t seem much different from that of last week when I was out exploring and found flowers I have never seen before, and huckleberries that I still delight in. My curiosity and desire to name and explain led me to science, while at the very same moment, I was keenly aware of all my emotions flowing in these intimate encounters – often in unusual and conflicting combinations. I might be admiring the metallic blue and intimate wing structure of a damselfly with awe, and find seated right next to that a sense of inadequacy and incompleteness from a teacher’s well-meaning, but harshly received criticism. For whatever reason, these experiences and emotions took the form of poetry. I am not sure why I write poetry, or what its purpose is suppose to be, but I can say it is intricately linked to my relationship with nature, with myself and my community. I hope you enjoy them, and that you find a deeper connection with all that sustains life.
Tonewood
Tonewood is a short collection of poems gathered from the author’s journeys and work as a field biologist. Each poem is an invitation to pause, connect and rewild. The book is beautifully constructed by Frances Hunter at Red Tower Bookworks. The cover and endpapers were made from Daphne laureola (spurge-laurel) and other locally found invasive plants. The poems were letterpress printed by Felicity Elsted in Mission BC.
Tonewood is published by Red Tower Bookworks, 14 pages. Standard edition $20, Special edition $250. To order copies please contact Frances at redtowerbookworks@gmail.com
Sacred Greens
Sacred Greens celebrates our connection to the earth and her vitality by immersing the reader in poems of place, wildness and wonder. The details of the natural world are released from around the world.
Sacred Greens is published by Alfred Gustav Press, 18 pages.
Migration Songs
Migration Songs brings together eleven powerful contemporary poets to consider an array of bird species. Each poet was put in conversation with a particular ornithologist or scientist to consider their chosen species collaboratively. The result is an extended “message sent to moving stars,” as participating poet and ornithologist Kurt Trzcinski writes.
The poets involved include well-known west-coast authors, amongst them Governor General’s Award and Griffin Poetry Prize winners. Widely published and lauded, these poets have a long interest in place, ecology, and the relations human beings have with our relatives amongst other species. “Whose song causes the heart to lift?” asks poet Joanne Arnott. The bird’s song. The poet’s song. The migration song.
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The book is $10 CAD or USD plus shipping ($3 within Canada)
36 pages; 11 scientists, 11 poets, one big heart.
Migration Songs was published by Nose in Book Publishing. I have several copies left, so if you would like a copy please email me.
Planet Earth Poetry Reading Series
Tonewood, Ocotober 20, 2023
Planet Earth Poetry Reading Series
Sacred Greens and others, February, 2021
Selected Published Poems
Event Magazine, 2019 Vol. 48.2
Event Magazine, 2019 Vol. 48.2
Event Magazine, 2019 Vol. 48.2
Sacred Greens, June 2021, Alfred Gustav Press