Seed - 9781733534505

Every seed-each pinprick of promise in this green world-is a masterwork. And this Seed, this most recent collection of Janice Gould's poems, is unmistakably the work of a master. Arising from deep wisdom and humility, these lines flower from the poet's body. Clear and potently accessible, her poetry emerges from her spirit-borne vision, a vision wedded to the earth's sensory richness. How closely she looks, how wisely she sees into her own dark and complicated affections. Seed is the gift from this master at her work. -Paulann Petersen, Oregon Poet Laureate Emerita I have admired Janice Gould's poetry for many years, and now the poems in Seed offer me even more to praise. Such lyric simplicity is hard-earned, and comes from a rare depth of experience. The range of approaches and voices that I have always associated with Gould's work recurs in such poems as "Fierce Defense," a bitter monologue of opposition, and "Black Hair," an intimately observed narrative of desire. "I know nothing about the soul," she writes in another poem, but it is precisely the quality of soul her writing evokes that makes me cherish this book. -David Mason, author of The Sound: New and Selected Poems Seed will haunt you as it has me-I cannot stop reading it aloud. Like the weeds and roses it invokes, the collection digs in, quietly at first, sending tendrils of images-flowers, morning stars, and green shoots of desire-that remain rooted in the heart long after the last page has closed. Brought to us by the brilliant Janice Gould, author of powerful books like Beneath My Heart, Doubters and Dreamers, and most recently, The Force of Gratitude, Seed will open you to the sacred of the everyday. In it, Gould writes the ceremony that is our breath, our lives, our loves. For this gift, for these words, for this gorgeous collection, I am thankful. -Lisa Tatonetti, author of The Queerness of Native American Literature Whether you seek a friend, or The Friend, a mother or The Mother, these poems are the companion you've been waiting for. In here, being a woman whose heart surges with the sweet music of love for women-and recollecting how difficult that was, as a girl-becomes the difficult and gilded path of finding any human way in the dark. Being a seeker and supplicant on holy earth in New Mexico becomes the state of seeking connection to The Beyond from anywhere. These are redolent poems, aromatherapy for the skittish soul. They literally made me laugh and cry. These are poems to breathe and live. -Maria Melendez Kelson, author of Flexible Bones and How Long She'll Last in This World Janice Gould's exquisite collection moves smoothly through love lyrics into narratives that tell stories of struggles as a lesbian in a hostile world. Poems are carefully linked together, leading the reader into a sequence rather than a random collection. The poet experiences life through a natural world that she observes with intimate knowledge and love. Death, the man in black with his face averted, haunts the edges of the poems more and more, as she claims to know nothing about the soul, yet unearths her deepest wisdom about the shared journey towards the home where we will be finally welcomed. -Judith Barrington, author of Long Love: New & Selected Poems

• | Author: Janice Gould
• | Publisher: Headmistress Press
• | Publication Date: Jan 15, 2019
• | Number of Pages: 94 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1733534504
• | ISBN-13: 9781733534505