Taking Flight: New Poems & Others

Front Cover
Just Write Books, 2017 - Poetry - 90 pages

Travel with poet Diane Schetky from the state of Maine that she calls home to the Arctic and even to inside lives of "Friends who have lost their way." Taking Flight is a selection of poetry that will provoke a thoughtful journey companioned by a mindful guide.

Part travelogue, part nature diary, part empathetic portrait gallery, Diane Schetky's Taking Flight leads us from the top of Mount Etna to the Arctic, from Java Indonesia to Maine, in poems that offer intimate reflections on life. A great blue heron that resembles a Giacometti; a language--Italian--where "consonants like to spoon/together in twosomes;" a vigil for the victims of Newtown where "silent sadness is broken/by the faint keening of a train"--these and other images bear witness to the world. Throughout, the poet follows her own advice: "Dig, dig, dig, until you unearth/your joys, sorrows, fears and passions."
--Carl Little, author, lecturer and poet.

Diane Schetky's poems are filled with the observations of someone in love with the natural world, someone who listens and sees beyond what is on the surface. In Taking Flight, you'll meet a river that becomes a traveling companion, experience a sense of place in countries you may never have visited, and meet people whose voices have been lost or silenced, as the author deftly bears witness to their stories through her poetry.
--Maggie Butler, MSW, Certified Amherst Writers & Artists Facilitator

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