Landmarks and Beacons: poems

by Jen Selk

A collection of poems examining the smallest details, where we have been, and where we are going.

Landmarks & Beacons is divided into ten six-poem sections, each broadly representing a different life stage, period, or larger milestone era or experience. The poems in the collection were written over the course of more than 20 years, and touch on parentage, friendship, trauma, work, pregnancy and motherhood, the pandemic, and more.

The things that shape us, driving us down different paths, influencing who we are and what we think, defining our choices and personalities, may be large and obvious, but are often exceedingly small, even invisible or unfathomable. What we can recall of our respective personal histories is minute and constantly diminishing — single words or phrases, the smell of a particular location, an incidence of weather. Even when we believe we remember or understand such things well, import may not be apparent until long after the fact, if ever.

Written in a conversational, modern poetic style, Landmarks & Beacons is a look at relatable, real-life personal transformation. It is an average person's attempt to excavate, understand, take meaning from, and ultimately release the past.

136 pages, Paperback

Published June 17, 2023

Reviews

[Kate Carrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my sort of thing usually at all. Before this I don’t think I’d read a poem since I was still at school, but I took a chance on this because I’ve been right down a rabbit hole recently after I started reading independant chicklit and discovered a new author (a Canadian) and THEN I found out that this poet works with that author so I was quite curious. I’m a girl’s girl so if you are a reader like me (or a friend) please know this isn’t that at all, BUT if you are open to new things, well.

It feels weird to say, but I really loved it. Not every poem was necessarily for me, and I sometimes felt confused, because there’s all these classical references and science's bits and bobs, but that’s normal I suppose. (Not the science but being confused by poetry, I mean.) At least by good poetry, right? It’s for the smarties, really, not roses are red and so on. But I really did like it. Some of the poems are so beautiful I read them five times already. And I suppose this is embarrassing to admit but most of all I love the book itself. It’s just so PRETTY and may be one of the prettiest books I own. I am putting it out in my sitting room because it’s truly that lovely to look at (and I suspect it will make me look very clever when anyone visits).

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I was too dumb for poetry but I won a book box giveaway and this was inside (with lots of other things I had never heard of) and I enjoyed it! Not quite finished but it’s on my bedside table and I have been reading a poem or two a night. They make sense to me, and are very relatable! TriggerW: there are some poems about the pandemic that were a bit upsetting to me as someone who has seen long-Covid. ETA: The cover is SO beautiful! This is a very gift-able book. I might buy some copies to include for when I need something for new moms.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jen Selk effortlessly writes what it is to be woman, mother, human in this beautiful work of poetry. The moments of motherhood are visceral in poems like "Salinity": "I lick a stray tear/ from the side of her face, which she does not/ acknowledge. I taste salt on my tongue." Lines like these bring to mind the life of motherhood as she erases the tears from her weeping child: "I tell her that tears are salty, just like the sea."

In "Time Machine," Selk wonders at the memory of smell when a found vial of perfume from 1992 allows her to "travel through time." Selk's poetry often hits the reader with a gut punch final line like this one when she reveals the time machine effect of motherhood: "My daughter/ presses her face to the side of my neck, breathes me in./ So I'll save a bit of the potion for her. So that someday she/ may make a time machine too.

This book of poetry is a balm in a time when we need voices like Selk's to soothe and remind us of the small moments in life, the memories of past loves, and the feel of the earth around us.

[Violet Aster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of beautiful poems takes the reader through a series of life stages. As I read this work I felt like the words and experiences mirrored my own in motherhood and in life. I wanted to sit down and chat with the author with a cup of tea and talk more about life as a mother, life with a child, life in a pandemic. This work proves that poetry is a universal language, and the writer knows how to tap into the minds of her readers. I highly recommend this read, and when you get to the end, sigh, pause and start anew because there is so much beautiful imagery that will soothe you and remind you to pause and think of the smaller moments in life.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully connected by strands of DNA, Jen Selk has created a book of poetry that is in turns anxious, insightful, angry and hopeful.
Even though this is not a book of prose, I felt like I was following the story of a single character from adolescence, into adulthood, through family struggles and the bittersweetness of motherhood.
Selk's poetry delves into the mundane in ways that are beautiful and familiar, but still fresh and unique.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Nathan Kalman-Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful and deeply affecting collection of poetry that offers narrative propulsion accessible to those who do not typically read poems.