Word Songs

She walked beneath the moon

into welcoming water, sank into

darkness, hair swirling like

sensuous seaweed,

surfaced,

and rested on water.

Maureen Parker opens up a world of ideas and mystery in her first collection of poetry.

Within diverse poems that are part-philosophy, part-verse, and part-song, Parker intertwines vivid images of nature and her surroundings with reflections that find unexpected meaning in life's experiences while inviting others to consider connections between the living and the dead and between humans and the living world. Her poetry explores the long-distance relationship between a daughter and her mother, an October beach as seagulls screech above and children dip their tiny toes into the waves, and a busy woman's reflections as her dog begs for attention and invites her to wonder what it is like to live inside a furry body.