Ancient Light: Poems

Ancient Light is a powerful and elegiac collection of poetry that addresses ecological and social issues through lyric, narrative, and concrete poems, celebrating the solace of natural spaces and reclaiming Indigenous stories and lifeways.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 120 pages
Publication date: 31 January 2024
Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Ancient Light, a poignant and potent work of poetry, employs a diverse range of poetic forms, including lyric, narrative, and concrete poetry, to address some of the most pressing ecological and social issues of our time. Through her innovative and evocative writing, Kimberly Blaeser weaves together the past, present, and future, offering a powerful testament to resilience and healing. Against the backdrop of pandemic loss and injustice, the collection highlights the urgent issues of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), hidden graves at Native American boarding schools, and destructive environmental practices. Blaeser's innovative poems trace pathways of kinship, healing, and renewal, celebrating the solace of natural spaces through sense-laden geo-poetry and picto-poems. With an Anishinaabe sensibility, her words and images invoke an ancient belonging and voice the deep relatedness she experiences in her familiar watery regions of Minnesota. Ancient Light invites readers to see the world with a new intimacy, immersing them in the darkest regions of the Anthropocene, the dangerous fallacies of capitalism, and ultimately, seeding hope. Ultimately, as the poems enact survivance, they reclaim Indigenous stories and lifeways, reminding us of the resilience and strength of Indigenous communities.

Weight: 208g
Dimension: 228 x 179 x 9 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780816552177