The Wilderness Within

Barbara Spring

5/30/2004

Poetry review by Molly

Poems and travel stories ranging from Great Lakes, to Africa, Galapagos and Mexico dot one hundred pages of this work produced by author, professor, featured writer and poet Spring. Bear Woman, Celtic Mirror, Whale Songs, Persephone Emerges, Prairie Child, On Puget Sound, Queen Asa's Viking Ship, He was a Farm Boy Once and Forget me Nots and Otters are some of the titles to entice the reader. Grizzly dancing to tambourine, wild turkey leaving runic calligraphy and a bedtime story and two halves of a speckled egg all beckon the reader. Bird migrations, horses, whales, deer, and bats are sure to appeal to animal lovers as all receive notice by this poet. Form dictates the subject, or does the subject dictate the form? Hummingbirds, Sea Speak, My Kites, In Darkness, Denali Springtime, Radial Lines are created in words and eye appealing form. Viking Ships, islands, Wild Flowers, Foggy Dawn, Great Lakes leave their impression upon the poet and upon we the readers. Snowy Owls silent as silk, A grandmother with forget me not blue eyes, the fragrance of acacia trees, the dragon home - a labyrinth of coiled power offered in fluid verse to bring treat to the senses. Mount St Helen's, Jonah, Dante's Limerick, little girls sewing and granddaughters are all offered for the reader to enjoy.

On the pages of The Wilderness Within poet Spring take the reader on a expedition through the landscape of her life. Affection for lastingness, location, season and family resonate in the opulent diversity of her work. The stark magnificence of Snow or a Stormy May Morning, effervescent delight and rich intensity of a Day Lily or My Strawberries, and the more delicate shades of Wild Flowers and Unseen Opals reflect life in general for us all. From Spring's first offering, "Bear Woman" right on to "The Gift of the Rabbit" the reader is transported to reflections and reminiscences that cannot fail to touch the inner spirit.

There is something for everyone in The Wilderness Within. Writer/Poet Spring says 'they just keep coming, these poems. Places, friends, family, animals, birds, fish, flowers, stones, lakes, rivers, and the unseen world enter these poems in unexpected ways.' Poet Spring's love of nature flows to the reader as these poems and essays are enjoyed. Accomplished, piercing, words to enrapture, and thrill are offered as poet Spring draws upon adventures of life to give rise to an opus of lovely work. Family life, life lessons, enlightenment communicate to the heart of the reader in agreeable and measurable manner. Readers will be sure to be transformed in a very tangible way while reading the words offered by this perceptive, straightforward woman whose observable zeal is to share her life with others.

While I love the sea and humming birds, if I had to choose just one verse composition as my favorite from the many offered by Poet Spring I would have to pick 'My Kites for my father." I like both the sentiment and the visual form.

You can find more about this book at .