Scale Model of a Country at Dawn

By John Sibley Williams

With an impressive mastery of sound matched only by his alchemical imagery, Williams guides readers along mythic highways, above oceans, and
towards the reimagining of a bridge no one remembers. To conjure is a recurring theme in this impressive collection--as if language holds the power to reconfigure a past, a mother, a child. And perhaps it can. Williams' words are that convincing. Recasting home as conch shell, as ghost house, and as fire, we learn that we are held together by the tensile strength of our own narrative. I've circled and underlined lines on nearly every poem in Scale Model of a Country at Dawn. This is a book you'll want to read, and then turn to the first poem to enter again. Even if no one is safe from the wolves in our hearts, John Sibley Williams helps us live within these contradictions. --Susan Rich

In Scale Model of a Country at Dawn, John Sibley Williams illuminates a world that while filled with tragedy and ruin is likewise blooming with life and celebration. Here, we navigate the "new constellations" and "vanquished sky" after a friend's suicide; we contemplate the absence of earth and wonder if it can be "filled with prayers" again; and in between the oncology ward and the wildfires raging in Northern California, we see the quiet moments worth spending time with: a father witnessing his children coming into their own, a house in need of repair but still providing shelter, and the plethora of American landscapes where Williams' speakers have a chance to reflect and be themselves. Although in the course of this collection we may come to realize that there are "far fewer gods" than we thought before, Williams' poems are a gift that offer us something to believe in again and again.--Esteban Rodriguez

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1930781601
• ISBN13: 9781930781603
• Release Date: January 2022
• Publisher: Cider Press Review
• Length: 100 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.9" x 8.9"