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"Shelve your losses. Taste spoonfuls in remembrance," exhorts Kim Ports Parsons in this moving and lyrical first collection, The Mayapple Forest. A profound generosity of spirit guides these poems, as the poet navigates a landscape of both loss and abundance. The old homestead, the mother's presence, the lost child and lost self are set against an enduring natural plenty: of gardens, the gathering of food, and the sweetness of cooking with family. Sometimes shadows are raised, sometimes pain suggested-the mayapple's dangerous, delicious lure-but always, the work transcends to a deepening mindfulness, and an authentic acceptance of the world as it actually is. May we all learn from these beautifully compassionate and discerning poems.
-Janet MacFadyen
About the author
Kim Ports Parsons grew up in the countryside near Baltimore and earned degrees from Goucher College, University of Maryland, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She taught students of all ages for decades, and worked in public and school libraries. Her poems have been published in many journals and anthologies. Kim volunteers weekly for Cultivating Voices LIVE Poetry, an international, intersectional, intergenerational poetry community. She lives next to Shenandoah National Park, gardens, walks, and writes. The Mayapple Forest is her debut collection.
