Earlier Households

At first glance, Earlier Households made me nostalgic for the sixties-for Wonderbread and Bazooka, for Twister and Tang. But this fine poetry collection is no mere wistful trip down memory lane. It is a book about bloodlines and bravery, girls and ghosts, daring and desire. Full of gorgeous imagery-"Your chocolate hair, your pale brown skin like cinnamon; your ginger voice, your nutmeg laugh, your smoky taste like hazelnuts, Like chicory. Like cardamom."-this is a delicious book to taste, to nibble, to devour.
-Lesla Newman, author of I Carry My Mother and I Wish My Father

As she herself says: "nothing is too deep for diving here." It's a promise from Dr. Bonnie Morris, a promise she more than fulfills. So enjoyable a read, we travel with her into her past, "protected by charms and weather, words and dreams." This is writing into which we can easily climb, for there are recognizable markers along the way, or as she calls them, "blessings where you should find them." Often our past is akin to hers. Sometimes, she beckons us into deeper waters, but always she is there: "I am the lifeguard who will not / concede to watch a woman drown tonight." A wonderful read.
-Cris Williamson, singer-songwriter/women's music artist