Notes From Beulah

by Katelyn Mattson

62 pages, Paperback

Published November 29, 2024

Reviews

[Amy Brownlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katelyn’s poetry is full of vivid imagery of domesticity, food, and nature. She excels at finding beauty and meaning in the everyday, mundane things many overlook. Her poems take us on a journey through love, loss, and self-discovery while exploring myriad relationships. I found myself pausing and rereading and look forward to spending more time with her poetry.

[Rebecca Kuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest. Beautiful. Vulnerable. Notes from Beulah takes us though a year in a life filled with love, loss, profound moments and mundane miracles.

[Betsy Dutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Within a three-year period Katelyn Mattson lost both parents to cancer a few months apart and went through divorce—all while in her early forties.

Yet, in Notes from Beulah, Mattson begins her collection with a different dilemma, wondering: 😉

What do I do with all this love
oozing through the barrier of my skin
I could scoop it up with bare hands
……………………………………………………..
it feels unjust to keep it to myself
take it
i’ve plenty to spare

This invocation to love comes in many forms: the search for romantic love and sensual pleasure; the weight and lightness abundant in parental love; the longing that lingers around separation from those who have slipped away.

Mattson takes these very personal anecdotes yet delivers the universal in simple, honest snapshots.