Small Measures

Small Measures is an intense and vivid collection of poems one keeps going back to. It is filled with a startling and exquiste use of language. This inventive and haunting collection explores human loss and loneliness in the not-always-safe shelter of the natural world. Not only is this stark and refreshing poetry accessible, but the imagery is thought-provoking, inviting the reader into a deeper relationship with each poem to embrace a renewing journey speaking to them on so many levels.

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Praise for Small Measures

I have always loved Mercedes Lawry’s poetry, and there are so many vivid and intense moments in this new collection of poems. I keep going back to certain images (“My own hand, palm up, like an empty saucer”) as I reflect on her startling and exquisite use of language. This is an inventive and haunting collection that explores human loss and loneliness in the not-always-safe shelter of the natural world.

–Tina Nunnally, Writer and translator

In the first line of her first poem, Lawry writes: “In every language, the story begins here.” The imagery that she paints into the words of English, rich and unexpected, gives the language fresh purpose and power. These are words that give voice to the silences we hear within ourselves, hushed but insistent. If you, too, “harbor tears that will not release,” you will witness your voice being heard in Small Measures, your story being told, and your heart finding solace in its words.

–Mim Harrison, author of Wicked Good Words

About the Author

Mercedes Lawry is the author of three chapbooks and the collection Vestiges. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals including Alaska Quarterly Review and Nimrod. She’s also published short fiction and essays, as well as stories and poems for children. She’s received a number of awards including the 2018 WaterSedge Chapbook Contest, chosen by Molly Peacock. She lives in Seattle.

Small Measures

Praise for Small Measures

About the Author

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