Carried

Among the things I love about Thayer Cory's poems in Carried-her gifted ear for the music of language, her exquisite eye for imagery, and her spare, lucid style-is how she leans into all the qualities of spirit that defy despair, yet without delusions about the dark forces gnawing at the edges of life. The titular poem perfectly reveals this theme. Past the ocean breakers, in "spell-binding vastness," the poet, as a child, clings to her brother's neck and writes, "We were anchored where we were." Anchored not on solid ground-a nursing home where the brother is now old, wheelchair-bound, and unable to manage his daily routines without help-but where "blue meets blue," the spiritual realities that offer joy and freedom. In poem after poem, Cory invites us to "look again!" in nature and human relationships for the insights that sustain and enrich us in our earthly sojourn.

-Suzanne Underwood Rhodes, Arkansas Poet Laureate and author of Flying Yellow

In this poignant collection, Thayer Cory carries the reader along the stream of her life, through adventurous journeys and familial woes and joys. "I am collecting memories," she writes, "the way I collected sea shells / when we were children / the rare and whole, jagged fragments / all equally cherished." Her poems serve as a love song both to nature, pouring her "prayers / into the birds / so they will carry / my heart's messages / through sun-drenched leaves / and rain-soaked air," and to those she has loved throughout her life, praising the "ancient choral beat pulsing between us." The quiet beauty of her words will leave you reflecting on where your own stream has taken you and what you've seen along the way.

-Bill Glose, author of All the Ruined Men, winner of the 2023 Library of Virginia Prize for Fiction

I have a long been a fan of Thayer Cory's thoughtful poetry. Carefully crafted and lyrical, I loved her earlier collection, Cracked Open. It is only surpassed by her more recent poems in this volume. Her concise poems invite reading and rereading, offering a glimpse into the joys and complexities of a well-observed life.

-Dr. Phyllis Hall Haislip, award-winning poet and author of Frame of Mind