Nectar and Small

Written By Amanda Barusch

The earth shrugged this morning as a  5.7 earthquake woke us up in Salt Lake City. It struck (as we say, though aftershocks continue) just after I finished reading Nectar and Small, a poetry collection by Jacqueline Balderrama. Jackie was one of the kindest workshop participants in our MFA program and now her first book of poetry has been released by Finishing Line Press.

These pages sing  in a voice that is nuanced and authentic. Contemplating the sandhill crane's millions of years on earth Balderrama asks, "Will we ever be allowed this kind of being?"  (Today, I think not.) Then, an owl sitting in the road takes flight, a mother urges her daughter to reach for happy things,  a few birds stand in for the thousands who are gone. Nature eludes and endures. Negative spaces haunt.  Janus nakes a cameo appearance. Finally, a highlight for all you recyclers: there's a poem about Jackie's visit to the dump!

It's a lovely work and I hope you'll buy it to support this wonderful poet.

Cover of “Nectar and Small” showing a colorful mosaic of the wetlands with two pink cranes up close.

In my thyme garden

 
Amanda Barusch

Amanda Barusch has worked as a janitor, exotic dancer, editor, and college professor. She lives in the American West, where she spends as much time as possible on dirt paths. She has an abiding disdain for boundaries and adores ambiguity. Amanda has published eight books of non-fiction, a few poems, and a growing number of short stories. Aging Angry is her first work of creative non-fiction. She uses magical realism to explore deep truths of the human experience in this rapidly changing world.

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Hungry Ghost Theater by Sarah Stone (WTAW Press)