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Ancient Light: Poems (Sun Tracks) (Volume 94) by Kimberly Blaeser

In memory of those lost to the pandemic and the centuries-long plague of violence.
May our communities heal.
To relatives (blood and soul) — gratitude. Gizhawenimin.
–Kimberly Blaeser dedication page

Nobody writes of the sanctity and language of nature and our blessed bond with it like Kimberly Blaeser. Most of the poems focus on these things. Kimberly has intimate knowledge of what the trees think and how water dances. And what the night cry of the loon means.

There are what I will call people poems in here. She is able to articulate moments that are so beautiful and terrible that most would be at a loss to articulate them in words.

Speaking of words, there are many non-English words scattered through the writing. Anishinaabe words, placed so the reader may be able to glean their meaning. Or maybe speaking directly to Anishinaabe readers.

Kimberly Blaeser is a poet I’ve been reading and learning from for awhile. She is a former Wisconsin Poet Laureate and is a founding director of Indigenous Nation Poets, and so much more!

Favorite poems from this volume:
p. 25 About Standing (in Kinship)
p. 50 Mashkiki, This Medicine Earth
p. 56 my journal records the vestiture of doppelgangers
p. 66 This Small Curtained Space
p. 71 Beneath the Berry Moon
p. 72 An Old Story
p. 84 The Way We Love Something Small (there are a series of poems with this title)
p. 91 Nocturne at 2 a.m.

The standout poem for me is on p. 38, Found Recipe, Mikinaak Dibaajimowin, where the poet recalls making turtle soup with her grandmother.