Kinlight: Homegrown Poems

by Polly Alice McCann

A handful of heartland in these narrative free verse by author and artist, Polly Alice. These poems speak with a uniquely deep-rooted voice. What do we need to survive? she asks. "Light, water, and the ability to imagine growth, --nothing is more powerful. There is always time to change direction if we believe in walking over the broken shards of glass to the other side." Polly's lyrical poems, explore faith, loss, and the measures women take to become "I will not forget," she writes. "I am woman, all things began in me." Ghosts and vapors; flour and light-- her imagery remains subtle in color, but dives into bone and marrow of women in today's America. For more work by this author, find her second book, Tea with Alice.

62 pages, Paperback

Published April 14, 2019

About the author

POLLY ALICE MCCANN’s lyrical poetry paints a picture of the narratives of the internal heartland. That’s not surprising since she is also an artist. Her art and poetry have been published in US newspapers and magazines most recently in Rattle magazine. A professor of English, she is also the founder and manager of FLYING KETCHUP PRESS. She credits much of her creative work due to her research on dreams which won her the 2014 Ernest Hartmann award from Berkeley, CA. Find her first three poetry collections, Kinlight, Tea with Alice, and Puss ‘N Boötes online. Polly Alice has also edited two collections of short stories and two poetry anthologies. The most recent, “The Very Edge” is a collection of 37 international artists and poets. With her MFA in Writing from Hamline University in St. Paul, with an emphasis in poetry and short fiction, her poetry has published internationally in journals such as Naugatuck River, and arc24 in Tel Aviv and elsewhere. She says her favorite thing is to tell stories-- other people's, her own-- maybe yours.

In her first book of poetry, Kinlight, she uses narrative free verse to explore the measures taken as a woman to find a place to become visible: 'I will not forget,' she writes. 'I am woman, all things began in me.' Ghosts and vapors, flour and light, her first collection remain subtle in color, but dives into bone and marrow of women in today's America.

Reviews

[Polly · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I really love this book because it's my first book of poetry that I wrote myself. It took 16 years but I am happy with the result. I think you will be too. These are narrative autobiographical poems but they also reveal a sense of place, and spirit of the journey to befriend my own story as an American woman in the 21st century. Let me know what you think. My next book is coming out next year.