owlmouth by Michele Marie Desmarais, NWVS #150

“Michele Desmarais has found the perfect tone, texture, and poetic forms in the poems of owlmouth to make her important plea that all creatures, natural and human, must connect on a physical and spiritual basis. She presents this hope most evocatively in “home” the capstone poem to this collection. Michele repeats the phrase “come home” seven times to underscore this central message until, like the hoots from the owl’s mouth, we are haunted with the realizations she offers in this stunningly beautiful collection. “come home/ come home/let the ravens/ remind you/ that we are an old song/ together.” owlmouth is one of the most technically accomplished and beautifully rendered collections ever. A must read!”

–J.J. McKenna (Wind and Water)

“owlmouth is a story that lives inside your bones, finally given voice. Michele has expertly cut and honed each piece of this collection with a flint-sharp focus on beauty, strength and transformation. The lines between everyday routine and the rich traditions of Indigenous peoples bleed together until you find yourself in a place in between – smoky, gutsy and powerful.”

–Tanya Chapman (King)

“The concise, precise words of poet Michele Desmarais steal my breath and flood my imagination.  On paper, her words glow with the light of her spiritual heritage, hot and incisive as a crow’s eyes. If you’re lucky enough to see her recite in person, you too will be opened to bask in that radiance.”

–Michael B. Campbell (Of Mice And Me)