Snow On Bare Dirt by Karen Lee Ramos

In these poems, Karen Lee Ramos doesn’t flinch or turn away from who and where she has been. Neither does she underestimate her “now” in the process of becoming. These poems are written with narrative proficiency in a style that is intensely focused, compact, and direct. Ramos is uncompromisingly honest in telling her story as she “speaks” to the human spirit’s ability to straddle shadows with persistence, acceptance, and resilience. She acknowledges that even in “a small harvest” there is “bounty enough,” and she steps out of her personal “galaxy of bruised stars” to remind her readers of the Buddha’s teaching: “Understanding is the heartwood of well-spoken words.” This is a brilliant debut collection of “well-spoken words.”

–Adele Kenny, Poetry Editor, Tiferet

Snow on Bare Dirt by Karen Lee Ramos is an exquisite chapbook of honest and insightful poems. Ramos is a brave poet who overcomes major obstacles in her life but who does not falter. These are clear-eyed poems that make us believe in the poet’s survival and our own. I guarantee that you will love this book.

–Maria Mazziotti Gillan, winner, American Book Award

Karen Lee Ramos takes us on a journey through youthful follies and ambitions to the fulfillment of motherhood. In poignant understatement, she recounts finding “unexpected mercies” around her and shares her deep connection to the natural world—an apple tree, the “patterns of wind and water and light.” Despite life-changing illness, what comes through is affirmation—of love, of family, of life under “a new galaxy of bruised stars.” These are poems to be read and reread.

–Elaine Koplow, Associate Editor, The Stillwater Review