Places in the Mist by Laurel Chambers

The epigraph to Laurel Chambers’ debut poetry collection, Places in the Mist states., “…we never entirely depart the homes we make for ourselves in the world. They follow us, like shadows.”  Her memories of different homes often trigger our own recollections in the shared human experience of place. We travel the phases of a woman’s life: the wonder of a young girl watching from her bedroom window as the neighborhood awakens (“I could see the houses come alive / McManns’ kitchen light, soft and golden”), to the young woman in a city apartment who escorts an old man home during a snowstorm (“He was blind and had dropped his cane”), to the mature woman reveling in the autumn (“This is the time before the losing of the light”). Finally, we are left at the threshold of aging, where wisdom shines through the poet’s acceptance of her waning eyesight, as she says: “Let the young ones have the dazzling light” and “I do not miss the time when all I saw was clear.”

–Ellen Austin-Li, author of Firefly, Finishing Line Press, 2019, and Lockdown: Scenes from Early in the Pandemic, Finishing Line Press, 2021

Laurel Chambers’s poetry chapbook, Places in the Mist, brings to mind a quote from poet Czeslaw Milosz  (Nobel Prize for poetry, 1980), who once said, “The purpose of poetry is to remind us how difficult it is to remain just one person, for our house is open, there are no keys in the doors, and invisible guests come in and out at will.”  These words are a most fitting description of what unfolds in this chapbook. Additionally, the poems are, themselves, a sensory banquet. We taste, smell and feel them as the poet travels from childhood to womanhood, always mindful of the people and places in her past. The mists of time may have smudged her memory of these places and her lived experiences, but there is honesty, candor and, yes, courage, in the sharing of them. Best of all, many of us (especially her women readers) will nod our heads knowingly as we recognize ourselves in these shared reflections.

–Joanne Greenway, author of Limited Engagement and True Confessions

In Laurel Chambers’ chapbook, Places in the Mist, the use of vibrant imagery and cunning metaphors makes for a lively read. I’m reminded of Robert Frost who also shared life experiences of seemingly ordinary people. We smile as the proud daughter carefully drops the magic golden egg into the pot of boiling water, creating Mrs. Grass’s soup. In Brown Girl Dead, we observe how racism lingers in America. The white Prom Princess who goes missing is written about and searched for as “ the police work every single clue.” At the same time, the just as lovely missing brown girl is not sought after “Her story is never on the news.” The tone is casual and conversational. The feeling is introspective; the speaker is questioning her culture and her experiences. Chambers describes an urban/suburban life while employing eagle-eyed attention to detail. This is an eminently readable first book with much to enjoy.

–Karen Jaquish, author of What Remains