Spilled

by the Dry River Poets

6 x 9, 154 pages, soft cover

ISBN 978-0-9847067-0-9

Price $10.00

The Dry River Poets believe in the power of words to express our humanity and, in the act of writing poetry, to render proof that one more soul did indeed walk this planet and bear witness to our miraculous existence.

What we say and how we say it matters.

Although we live in this time that adores the absurd and worships the meaningless, we profess our love for clarity, for evoking fine detail, for words that convey what it is to be awakened, and—most of all—to express our truths.

 

Praise for Spilled

“Here are eight Arizona poets who’ve been working together for years honing their skills, poets committed to shaping the matter of their real lives into music—eight accomplished poets writing poems that are bell-clear, writing poems made out of the memories and passions that haunt them, the moments that have shaped them and define them. You will not be bored here by rhetorical flummery and affectation; this is an engaging, honest, thoroughly readable anthology. I would not be surprised if you found yourself moved by a good many of these poems, and now and again find your heart broken in the way that authentic poetry can sometimes break one’s heart.”
—Steve Kowit, In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet’s Portable Workshop

“Spilled brings us poems of love, loneliness, and loss, of aspiration and anguish, of memory and the marvels hidden in the world around us. The language is rich, with deft touches of humor and, here and there, a last line that echoes, long after the book is closed.”
—Susan Cummins Miller, A Sweet, Separate Intimacy

“The Dry River Poets know what poetry is for. The poems in Spilled peer closely at the desert: saguaros rising and fallen, rattlesnakes, and all, although the creatures may be unimpressed ‘to hear you’re lovely / and in my poem.’ The poets aren’t afraid to examine issues: the environment, immigration, war. They explore personal history: illness, lost children, love, loss. We witness the way hands ‘held and let go,’ wonder ‘how long does love go on and on / rewinding,’ see a dead mother’s face as ‘a map I could no longer follow home.’ The poets understand ‘the stubborn diligence of memory’: even if we try to pack it away, ‘it’s all spilling out, all over the place.’ They seek to find a voice ‘that insinuates itself like smoke in a flannel shirt.’
One poem asks, ‘What will relieve the dread of darkness?’
The light in this collection is a very fine answer.”
— Meg Files, The Love Hunter and Other Poems

“An engaging collection of poetry, intriguingly wide-ranging in subject matter and tone.”
—Jefferson Carter

“Tucson has a vibrant writing community and this anthology of work from the Dry River Poets shows the variety and depth of its talent. From shaped verse to villanelle, from character study to poem of praise, the poetry in this anthology is lush with emotion and expression: Wynne Brown’s expansive empathetic poem-letters; Nan Coleman’s wise, thoughtful elegies and odes; Betty Creath’s visionary, stoic quests; Larry Cronin’s wry, witty psychological landscapes; Belle Deutscher’s sharp, supremely intelligent histories join with Steve Nagy’s lively, gritty Ohio River Valley memories, Mardy Stotsky’s luminous minimalist missives, and Sandra Szelag’s astute, spiritually translucent fables. The Dry River Poets offer a rich reading experience. The poems are alive with scent and color, the taste and touch of life. This chorus of distinct voices reveals the landscape of the Sonoran desert, the landscapes of the past and the landscapes of the human heart.”
—Geraldine Connolly, Hand of the Wind

The generous poems in Spilled reach out to the reader in confidence and trust, with a direct, long look.
—Wendy Burk

“Such enlivening poems! From diverse times and places, they enter the present moment to awaken a spirit lulled into complacency by societal routines. If you want to come alive, sit down and read a couple of these. Your heart will spill over. Your desire to be real will expand.”
—Pat Youngdahl, Subversive Devotions: A Journey Into Divine Pleasure And Power

“Spilled is a collection of diverse and satisfying poems written by local Tucson poets. These poems reflect this desert area well, and, in various ways, move the reader. They evidence how such a group can come together to share poems and still stay true to their individual voices. As with any such collection of serious poets, there are some real stunners in the mix, poems that bring readers to their deepest and most profound feelings of what it is to be alive, to live in the world. Whether happy or sad, wry or wise (and they are, in turn, all of these), these are poems the reader will savor and enjoy, a collection to relish and return to.
—Tom Speer, My Father’s Shoes, co-author with Carmen Speer of Tandem Space: Daughter/ Father Poems

 

The book is available directly from the authors.

For more information, or to order copies of the book, please contact the authors at 520-229-3638