The Psychology of Rough Water

By Nancy Austin

"Forest Bathing," the first poem in Austin's collection, is a perfect metaphor for what follows. These poems will take you, like a day in the forest, down varied trails, some easy and peaceful, others challenging as they show the heartache and difficulties of relationships. You will emerge from these poems believing that rough water ultimately flows to stillness. As Austin tells us in "Golden Hour," it is "a coaxing to catch / my breath, pay attention, find my place."

-j.lewis, author, all these things are broken and editor, Verse-Virtual,

These poems will come as a surprise. Just when you think they are all about wildness, beauty, and the rewards of keen observation, Austin takes you down more dangerous roads. She writes, "being kind has its own authority," but so do strength and opposition, as this thoughtful, finely wrought book teaches us.

-Ronnie Hess, author, Canoeing a River with No Name

It has been said that life's roughest storms prove the strength of our anchors. In The Psychology of Rough Water we are provided anchors as weightless as a simple reminder for "a call to just be" in familiar, safe surroundings of nature and family - and as powerful as a kitchen worker's smile in war-torn Ukraine. In these poems, mind, emotion, and behavior blend to let the waves carry us where the light sometimes cannot.

-Naomi Cochran, author, Fill in the Blank and Razed Lutheran

Austin urges us to pay attention to "nature's gifts" to "find the many wonders in the ordinary." From her "talisman tree," a "winter-hushed hemlock," to the time she spends singing to her grandson, we sense her connection to nature, her love of family. She reminds us to listen to the barred owl, look for the first spring violets, and always put family first. Her poems comfort and guide, offer kinship, draw us in, inspire us to take that walk in the woods, dance with a child.

-Kathleen Serley, author, Statements Made in Passing

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1639807810
• ISBN13: 9781639807819
• Release Date: July 2025
• Publisher: Kelsay Books
• Length: 68 Pages
• Weight: 0.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"