Since the End

Poems in SINCE THE END by Florida poet Alison Kolodinsky use the natural world - the ocean, swamplands, flora and fauna - as a backdrop meant to prod the reader to meditate on universal truths that matter: loss, love, survival. Sometimes the poems offer answers, but more often they describe questions that haunt the reader. To that end, these poems illuminate how we experience a range of everyday emotions, from grief to confusion to joy. The language is beautiful and evocative, and they are artistically wrought devoid of the sentimental. Additionally, Kolodinsky employs a masterful use of various poetic forms, some more obscure than others. She is a poet's poet. Prague Summer Program founding poet Richard Katrovas describes SINCE THE END this way: "As balanced and graceful an evocation of the mysterious link between the natural world and inner life as I have read in many years"; he calls the book "a wise and substantial work." Sandra Martz, editor of When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, says: "Like a perfect sunrise, her words will stay with you long past the reading." (www.MotesBooks.com)