In the Roots by Abby Wheeler

When I arrived at the last poem in this beautiful book of poems by Abby Wheeler, I returned immediately back to the first poem. I wanted them all again, and more. This collection of pieces is luminous and liminal, subtly illuminating the edges, the beginnings and “all that lies unseen”. In the garden, the chapel, and by the bedroom window we are granted a chance “to see the heart emerge.” In these poems we view the lights and shadows of relationships, between person and world, self and other, between what might have been, what cannot be, and what is. Wheeler writes “my feet grow into the ground.” We feel that longing for roots in this imaginative, lucid, and vulnerable collection.

–Laurie Lambert, author of What We Are Made Of, Finishing Line Press, 2019

Abby Wheeler’s first collection of poetry, In the Roots, is a reflection of one woman’s desire to give life. She travels the paths of hope and longing, “Assure me that the time / for bursting will come” and notes the abundance of “the little winged seeds of sycamore trees / ready to seep into the earth and make / their mother proud.” Hope and loss grow side by side, as Wheeler gently, yet powerfully, reminds us.

–Leslie Clark, author of Driving in the Dark, Finishing Line Press, 2017

Abby Wheeler‘s In The Roots explores the griefs of illness, the pleasures of a garden, the small intimacies between lovers, and the moments in which our lives brush up against nature. These poems tune you into the world: the currents that run under the surface of our lives, the things that go too easily missed, and remind you to pay attention.

–Kara Oakleaf, Assistant Professor of English, George Mason University