Beth follows up her award-winning poetry book Ladder To The Light with Believe The Bird, a collection of forthright, shimmering poems inspired by the John James Audubon quote, “When the bird and the book disagree, believe the bird.” What if we examine the stories we tell ourselves to see if they resonate with who we are now? What if we allow our inherent wisdom to override messages that no longer serve us? When is a story good and when is it harmful? What if we get to decide what narratives work for us? Believe The Bird is a book full of questions in the form of poems, pointing to the wisdom of the bird in hand. Believe The Bird is the winner of the 2021 San Francisco Book Festival poetry award.
“Aim high, this book says–look up, go to the water when you are broken, bob to the surface, bury your demons, cherish your oddness, tell some things utterly, but keep others in reserve. Be invisible, this book says–so you can keep the riffraff in the dark while you lead your electric life. Deft lines and crisp silences make these poems almost become songs–almost, but then they keep their reticence. Like spells, they make things happen you didn’t know they could. How did that open me? Well–though prone to bruising, this book says, the heart has “always a tiny rustle of / something living within.” These poems will wake you to a feeling like a headline only you can decipher, survival news of your fierce interior life.” —Kim Stafford – Oregon Poet Laureate 2018 – 2020
Author of Wild Honey, Tough Salt
