The Fruit of Love and Grief by T. J. Harrison

In these poems T.J. Harrison speaks for us, when we cannot sleep, when we obliviously water the dove’s nest, and when we sign the organ donor card. Here is the ache of realization yet also the surprise of joy. You can find a home here, one familiar yet also seen anew.

–Mardi Jo Link, author of Bootstrapper and The Drummond Girls

The Fruit of Love and Grief referred to in the title of T. J. Harrison‘s collection of poems are the thoughtful poems themselves. In language which seems washed by clear rain and through precise natural images–birds, wind, rivers–she allows her readers to explore anew the ripening of love and the ramifications of grief. Her evocative poems, emerging from a life lived with questions about relationships, about expectations, about time, raise more questions, occasionally and courageously laying them down with surprising light and ease.

–Elizabeth Schultz, author of Water-Gazers and Mrs. Noah Takes the Helm

In a line from one of these many deeply moving poems, Harrison writes of “the interval before dawn,” and I thought Yes, that is what these poems do: they examine that interval, the moment when we wonder if darkness is the only truth, and then, with a gentle and adept hand, Harrison leads us to turn and see, that yes, again, the dawn does indeed come.  With stunning imagery and tender wisdom, that light shines in every poem. With sensual metaphor and measured form, that light gains meaning. And with a worldview both honest and positive, that light makes these poems a joy to read.

–Anne-Marie Oomen, author of Un-coded Woman, winner of two Michigan Notable Book Awards for nonfiction, and a Next Generation Indie Book Award/Memoir.