Downriver

By Kristin Roedell

In her new collection, Downriver, poet Kristin Roedell's poems speak with wisdom, warmth and maturity about the world around her. With a strong sense of the natural realm, a feminine narrative and rich, familial scenarios, Roedell's work reflects the intimate experience of woman, wife, mother and daughter. In her poem, 'With My Daughter Comes Autumn,' she observes and writes: "The garden is full of you; snails / leave a glistening trail like the slick / feel of your head when it crowned...[.]" With her honest examinations, the poet also turns the lens on herself, as in 'After Hours in Chinatown:' "I left my clothes on a lacquered bench. / The ladies peered from cornered eyes / at spidered breasts and salmon thighs. / They formed in flocks like birds and / raised their brows in parted wings...[.] This body of work encourages living and loving in the fullest sense of those words. Kristen Roedell's poetry asks us to let go, trust her lead and ride while she takes us downriver with her poems. And, we willingly do. -Tammy Robacker, Tacoma Poet Laureate, 2010-2011. Kristin Roedell's poetry draws order out of the inchoate and in that order is comfort. She puts her finger on the deepest cut, the most painful sadness, the rawest scar and soothes it. Her universe is Womanlandia. No subject is barred, her lines illuminating the darkest corners of home and hearth. Every so often a bright star appears on the literary horizon. Kristin Roedell is one of these new lights. -Jana Harris, novelist, short story writer, poet, essayist, and Pushcart Prize poetry recipient

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0692432582
• ISBN13: 9780692432587
• Release Date: May 2015
• Publisher: Aldrich Press
• Length: 86 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.2" x 6.0"