Description
Songlines
by Meredith Heller
$13.99, paper
978-1-63534-955-9
2019
Meredith Heller is a performing poet and singer/songwriter with a graduate degree in writing and education. A California Poet in the Schools, she teaches poetry writing classes for teen girls, coaches private voice and songwriting, leads MoonTribe, a Write of Passage Nature Program, and hosts Siren Song, a women’s singer/songwriter night. Her poetry has been published by Rebelle Society, We’Moon, The Aquarian, Avocet, and in Women, Their Names, & The Stories They Tell. A nature-girl who spent fifteen summers solo backpacking, she hikes the trails daily. She is mused by nature, synchronicity, and kindred souls. Visit her blog: www.BonesofSynchronicity.com
Maya (verified owner) –
Great passionate poems! Love it.
David Bruce Smith (verified owner) –
SONGLINES has a special place in the annals of poetry; normally, I would say they provide “pleasure”, but during this Pandemic they also give this reader–a sense of “peace”.
Kathy Zare (verified owner) –
Meredith is an energetic and fun teacher who helped my daughter blossom with interest in poetry and writing. We started with Meredith’s writing club 2 years ago and that was the first time we noticed our daughter had a talent in writing poems, but I’m sure it’s Meredith’s way of teaching that made all the difference.
Victoria Moran (verified owner) –
Meredith’s exquisite prose captivates and transports the reader into an enchanting landscape where the soul can quietly nestle inside the loving arms of wordsmith beauty.
Anne Pallie (verified owner) –
Meredith’s poetry flows from her heart into your blood. It breathes into your breath. Here is a poet who has felt pain but who has survived because of her sheer love of life and nature. In this difficult dark time, her poetry is an elixir.
Adele Nieto (verified owner) –
Meredith weaves in prose words that cannot be spoken of in mundane language. When reading Meredith’s poems, I experience the yin and yang of life as a tapestry of grit and softness. By far, she is one of the most talented writers I have come across!
Lila Sparks Daniels (verified owner) –
Powerful and loving. What passion!
Helen Baxt (verified owner) –
I love this collection and so thankful Meredith shares with us the road, the journey, the songlines filled with vivid memories, found love, a restful and raging river and melodies sung by river stones. It’s been a great addition to my personal library and wonderful to gift as well. Really looking forward to the next poetic and literary adventure from the beautiful songstress Meredith.
Willow Pearson (verified owner) –
Meredith’s poetry is pure grace. Like a mother of pearl, her work shines iridescent and in many hues, carving light from the substance of life in its sheer being. I have been reading Meredith’s work for decades; it lifts me in unexpected moments of surprise long after I have read the poem.
Amy Beam (verified owner) –
These poems provide both an escape from current realities and a return to the deepening of what is real. I find imagery and verse that is equal parts comforting and jarring, sometimes as soothing as a lullaby and other times a call to WAKE UP! Rich and evocative and truly authentic, she creates alluring windows and captivating mirrors to peer through and into. Heartbreaking, funny and always smart and honest. A real triumph!
Aaron Clippinger (verified owner) –
With imagery so vivid and beautifully honest, these poems dance like music and saturate the senses in light. As I read Songlines, I didn’t want to go too fast. Every poem is unique, authentic, and emotionally inspiring. I wanted to savor each one as if they were freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, melting in my mouth.
Steven Adler (verified owner) –
This poetry is so beautiful and creative. It viscerally touches soul, awakens emotions, and inspires contemplation about life and existence itself, and our place within it.
Lisa Spangler (verified owner) –
There are times in my life when I move away from an art form; whether that means not going to galleries to view new artists, not seeking out short films, or not reaching for poetry. But when I do again come back to these art forms, my heart sings and I feel the delight of a new song. Meredith Heller’s poetry in her recent book, Songlines, does just this for me, it makes my heart sing! Ms. Heller is not only gifted, but her poetry is a gift.
Sheila Litwin –
Of course, they are songlines. Meredith Heller is a bard in the ancient tradition of singing a tale that captures either a transcendent life moment or long life story encapsulated in a few words that engage and invite me to experience my deep self. I was captivated by the music in her words, her images and evocations. I go with her in these poetic journeys that bring me closer to my souls home.
Wendi R. Kaplan –
This small book of poetry is overflowing with magical, magnificent images that simply zing.
After reading her book I feel like I have been on an important and mystical journey with an artist, a scientist, a lover of nature, a fellow observer of the world with the most interesting, insightful, imaginative eyes. Meredith Heller takes the “ordinary” world of stones and sky and stars and birds and relationships and paints them in ways that are revelatory.
Each poem is a gift of vision and sensuality. Heller’s descriptions like “elven-hearted and porous” and “bohemian cheerleader” are delightful. Her poem called “Song of My Spine” is an exciting, electric ode to the spine that brings vivid appreciation to the sensational spine. In “I Wish You” there are many beautiful reminders of the awe that life provides. In “Like A Bird” I felt embodied in the flight of a bird. The descriptions and words Heller uses in “Round Brown Stone” are simply delicious and filled with an imagination born of a free spirit. “Twenty Geese” takes us on life’s journey with brilliant perspective. And “Trust” brings us wisdom born of experience that illuminates trust.
Songlines will have you reading again and again and savoring Meredith Heller’s artfully woven words and images that are succulently luscious.
Wendi R. Kaplan
Poet Laureate, Alexandria Virginia (2016-2019)
Susanne (verified owner) –
A penetrating, moving, collection that uplifts your heart, while shaking your bones and soul to the core. Meredith is gifted and brilliant! I bought copies for all of my friends…
Ellen McCawley (verified owner) –
Meredith Heller has written an exquisite Songlines book that is extremely inspiring, invigorating and refreshing. Makes you reflect on the important things within your life and the depths of your soul. It is a true delight to read her poetry. Gets you back to nature and into your inner self. It is creative and reflective. Makes you want to get back to what makes you feel special and to look for all of your hidden treasures. It releases your spirit and cleanes you with strength and determination to carry on with eternal peace. Brings out your freedom and endless joy. My inner child came alive when I read her book and I look forward to her future masterpieces.
David McElroy (verified owner) –
Insightful, moving, with a way of transporting you through her words to the place of her descriptions. A poet with heart, bringing our feelings to the surface with her prose.