Rescued Light

-Paul Acampora, Author of I Kill the Mockingbird

Azaray unable to read her incarcerated father's letter but carrying it with her everywhere as if it had just arrived; Vick in the handicapped swing, telling his teacher he wishes he could fly; Gabby for whom the world spun too fast and the moon rose too slow; Fred in love with long division, those numbers trapped inside little boxes. No poet appreciates the struggles and dignity of those she teaches more than the author of Rescued Light. Geri Ann McLaughlin brings both compassion and craft to all she encounters, whether it be Alliaria Petiolata or Florence the Mennonite ghost peering in the window. Today, all our small quirks, / all our twitches, blinks, and stutters / are accentuated. / Anything crazy is a diamond-spun maze. / Anything complex is alight.

As poet and teacher, Geri Ann McLaughlin has spent her life rescuing-that is, cherishing-the light in her students, her family, and the natural world that surrounds us, stitching a patchwork quilt that captures the imperfect and astonishing beauty of all creation. Poetry, like light itself, rescues by paying attention and by honoring what it explores. There is so much light in this book, and we need it in these dark times.

-Christopher Bursk, Author of The First Inhabitants of Arcadia

In describing her student's eyes double-dutching with light, Geri Ann McLaughlin might well be speaking of her own poetry. Wherever her gaze lands, from the lives of her students to her own relationships and, yes, self, McLaughlin is unflinching. Of her students' she says, because I'd go in like a force and chase it down / and grab that life-stolen moment back / for you. Hers is not a victim's cry in It isn't fair, but a powerful voice which asserts, I claim grapple for my word . . . it stands for survival. Yet, more, Geri Ann McLaughlin gives us Lessons you didn't ever ask for. She gives us Rescued Light in its complex variations of authenticity, of truth.

-Patricia Goodrich, Author of Red Mud, Woman with a Wandering Eye