Lira – Poems of a Woodland Woman | by Mary Ricketson

The Lira Poems, Mary Ricketson’s latest book, certainly speaks toward enchantment. The poems enrapture ethereally with the little natural creatures on the ground—the deer, the rabbit, squirrel, the turkey and the dove—and the birds circling high over Lira’s garden, especially the red-tailed hawk. To see and imagine this “ceremony of embrace” tunes one to Nature, to the fairies, the weather changes, even as we feel ourselves participate, without intrusion, in the routine beauty of the lines, the daily walks with doggies and each of these lovely creatures. The book triumphs in that very special way of seeing a there there, and, then, again, inside the heart. The news? How marvelous to be alive!—Shelby Stephenson was poet laureate of North Carolina from 2015-2018. For thirty-two years he was editor of Pembroke Magazine. His recent books are More and Shelby’s Lady: The Hog Poems.