To Love the Birds and the Places They’ve Made Their Home: Poems from the Magic Valley

The theme of the collection could be summed up in these lines written by Caryll Houselander in The Reed of God, “body and soul together give glory to God: the sharper the capacity for sorrow and joy, the greater the hallowing...Christ laid hold of the world with His human hands...He wed Himself to it. Our life is the response of the bride” (66–67). Our loving connection to every human person is our loving connection to Christ—charity is our bride-ness. The poems follow one bride through her journey, with the author’s environment (the Rio Grande Valley) coloring the verses, as one is not saved in isolation but rather in communion with all of creation which “waiteth for the revelation of the sons of God” (Douay-Rheims Bible. Rom. 8.19). God created the world and said “it is good.” The author looks out and says, “yes. I think so too