Nancy Boutilier - A Poet to Savor

I recently received a copy of Nancy Boutilier's On the Eighth Day Adam Slept Alone (Black Sparrow Press, 2000). Nancy is a  Visiting Associate Professor, Rhetoric and Composition at Oberlin College. I met Nancy at an Ohio Poetry Association workshop weekend at Malabar Farm where the leader, Diane Kendig, read Nancy's poem, "Why I Love Mornings" which was featured on the Writers' Almanac. I knew immediately I wanted more. I am not disappointed.

I am grazing through the book, reading two or three poems at a time, rereading them to delve deeper, discovering the many layers in her words. Nancy had a tomboy upbringing and it serves as inspiration for many of her poems in this book. "Snapper AFGUE" is about catching snapper turtles and so much more. "What Holds" uses childhood backyard baseball to describe the yearning to return to a sweeter time in a changed relationship. 
But there is no subject that is beyond Nancy's adept pen. We are pulled into quiet introspection in ,  "Help Arrives"
     help arrives
     on its own 
     wings
     mercy too

I recommend this book to all. Thank you, Nancy, for this poetry experience. I hope to see more of your work soon. 

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