To Speak to Each Day in Its Own Language
by Melissa Huff
50 Poems ~ 91 pages
Price: $20.00
Cover Design by Shay Culligan
Cover art “Sightings” by Melissa Huff
Author photo by Sarah Lincoln
Publisher: Kelsay Books
ISBN #: 978-1-63980-833-5
To Order: Amazon.com or Kelsaybooks.com
ABOUT THE BOOK:
To Speak to Each Day in Its Own Language explores the deep conversation between nature and humans. Nature’s cycles are evident, and because we, too, are deeply rooted in the rhythms of time, the human body becomes an important part of the conversation. Many of Melissa Huff’s poems cross thresholds into the realm of spirit. Ultimately, nature, body and spirit intertwine in our pilgrimage through life, as we navigate this journey one moment at a time.
ADVANCE PRAISE:
In Melissa Huff’s stunning collection, To Speak to Each Day in Its Own Language, she creates “garlands of meaning” with beautiful imagery and a deep reverence for nature. Huff reminds us that nature holds and supports us at every turn, “my senses know that tomorrow a bevy / of birds will sing the sun into the sky,” and has the power to heal and transform, “nature’s patterns / will fill our pores / white light / will spill color at our feet.” This inspiring, insightful collection offers up a source of great comfort and hope, “I / will lift my face to the horizon and – grateful to have had / this voyage – take to the sky with salt-studded wings.”
–Cristina M. R. Norcross, Founding Editor, Blue Heron Review and author, The Poetry Apothecary and others
Melissa Huff’s poetry celebrates every subtle glory of the natural world: trees, flowers, water, light, humanity. Some poems whisper an earnest attempt at finding peace in sacred spaces, nearly all paint beautiful tableaus so we can reflect with the poet about the importance of awareness. Many make effective use of line breaks and white space, allowing us to pause and breathe as our eyes move down the page. This is a masterful collection of poetry as meditation.
–Kate Hutchinson, Editor-in-Chief, East on Central: A Journal of Arts and Letters and author, A Matter of Dark Matter, and others
Moving toward delight in the natural world is crucial in these poems. In “Spring Is a Strong Verb,” there is no gentleness, but “fierce energy” that defies gravity. “Fern Room, Lincoln Park Conservatory” ends with something deeply physical: “and deep within one’s core / the pull of the earth pulses.” In “Aubade.” the poet watches her spirit rise “on this day’s updraft.” In “Belonging,” she asks, “How can I learn to listen to this land?” By the poet’s stillness and receptivity. Attention and attunement. Awareness and awe.
–Veronica Patterson, Loveland, Colorado’s First Poet Laureate, and author, Swan, What Shores?, Thresh & Hold, and others
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Melissa Huff explores free verse and metered poetry, enjoying the structure as well as the patterns of sound and rhythm inherent in both. She feeds her poetry from the power and mystery of the natural world and the ways in which body, nature, and spirit intertwine.
Her poem “Talking with Trees” garnered a 2024 Pushcart Prize nomination, while many of her other works have earned recognition in local and national contests. An advocate of the power of poetry presented out loud, Melissa twice won awards in the BlackBerry Peach Prizes for Poetry: Spoken and Heard, sponsored by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS). She has read her work at literary festivals and private parties, in bookstores, art galleries and classrooms, in coffee shops, pubs, museums and in libraries, on Zoom, in an arboretum, and in the rotunda of New Mexico’s State Capitol building.
Melissa’s poetry has appeared in many journals, including Blue Heron Review, The Orchards Poetry Journal, RockPaperPoem, Gyroscope Review, Persimmon Tree, Snapdragon: A Journal of Art and Healing, and Amethyst Review. Several anthologies and other collections also include her work, such as The Best of Halfway Down the Stairs, 2015–2019, Encore: Prize Poems 2022 (NFSPS), Northern Colorado Writers’ Chiaroscuro: Anthology of Virtue & Vice and Thin Places & Sacred Spaces from Amethyst Press.
Melissa is active with her workshop group, Plumb Line Poets, and enjoys membership in Poets & Patrons of Chicago, Lighthouse Writers in Denver, Colorado Poets Center, Illinois State Poetry Society, and Columbine Poets of Colorado. Having grown up in New Jersey and California, she now splits her time between Illinois and Colorado.
FROM THE BOOK:
Walking Meditation
by Melissa Huff
matching the pace of others
I circle out
through revolving doors
settle into a rhythmic stride
release all thoughts
into some vast
holding space above the April sky
senses open
sounds begin to seep in
pulsing hum of bicycle wheels
pad of runners’ footfalls
overlapping cadences of conversation
shrill tones of children mingle
with cries of seagulls
and always
the drone of lakeshore traffic
eyes assimilate
the bobbing of joggers’ bodies
the crisscross darting
of dogs playing catch
cyclists weaving with fluid grace
a soundless scull glides through the harbor
and always
ribbons of cars stream at the edges of sight
feet respond as pavement changes
to ragged surface
of quarried stone steps
my body absorbs
warmth of wind
pale perfume of forsythia
earthy taste of air after rain
alert to each nuance
yet focused
on none
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