DARK STAR I had not expected, mid-life,that already my shining yearswould be behind me, tradedfor more essential things:what it meansto have patience,to wage a war,how to endure. I remember clearer now:the smooth dunes,bare shoulders,my body feeling somehowless bound, belongingto me. You came outof the sea—salt on skin.In a particular way,your face openedbeneath the midday sky.Those [...]
In Measures, B. L. Bruce’s third collection of poetry, the author deftly explores grief, loss, the visual measures of time, and the nature of change in her celebrated, nuanced verse. In this latest collection featuring nearly sixty new poems—including works in new formats like micropoetry and American haiku—award-winning poet B. L. Bruce again echoes the [...]
Throwback to my two poems, "The Leaving" and "Fragility," which appear in my award-winning collection The Weight of Snow, first published in The 2River View. THE LEAVING By the heavy glass doors,you kneel to gather scattered clothes,your naked silhouette a shadowagainst the violet dawn.I know this shape your body makesagainst the sky. A leaf falls [...]
I drop a glove in the puddle of rainwater,and bending to remove itsee the reflection of my mother's figure,see the levy of years--the unexpected wither of skinas if waking to seethat it has snowedovernight. c. B. L. Bruce From "At Henry Cowell State Park, Early Winter" from my award-winning collection "The Weight of Snow," first [...]
Life in isolation during the coronavirus pandemic got me thinking of the time I spent 28 days in a small cabin in the remote forests of Northern California. I wrote about my time there, reflecting on the writing process, in my short memoir "28 Days of Solitude." Check out the newly refreshed edition, available now [...]
ECLIPSE You awakened me long after midnight to watch the moon. Our heads rolled back, feeling so insignificant beneath the canvas of stars, infinite cosmos. We name the patterns together. The world seemed to still as the moon came into and then back out of shadow. The amber orb fell away from me. I crawled [...]
"A captivating and visceral portrait of the California landscape by a talented cast of poets.” - Kirkus Reviews Pleased to announce that two of my poems, "Feel" and "Tempest," were published in Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California poetry anthology from Scarlet Tanager Books. The collective contributions to this anthology come together to weave a braid of voices [...]
DESERT MOON Gibbous moon over Sea of Cortez, now black in the night. I wake to sounds of whales surfacing in the calm bay, stirred from dreams of catching the dorado, only to watch the dimming of the impossible colors: indigo, mustard, viridian, crimson. And I, haunted by my selfish guilt, wishing to undo it [...]
2014 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FINALIST (POETRY CATEGORY) 2014 USA BEST BOOK AWARDS FINALIST (POETRY CATEGORY) 2014 SAN FRANCISCO BOOK FESTIVAL HONORABLE MENTION The poems in The Weight of Snow are heartfelt, skillfully written, and keenly observed fragments of the natural world and our lives there. Bravo. – Gary Young, Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County, Pushcart Prize winning [...]
THE WEIGHT OF SNOW: NEW & SELECTED POEMS 2014 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FINALIST (POETRY CATEGORY) 2014 USA BEST BOOK AWARDS FINALIST (POETRY CATEGORY) 2014 SAN FRANCISCO BOOK FESTIVAL HONORABLE MENTION The poems in The Weight of Snow are heartfelt, skillfully written, and keenly observed fragments of the natural world and our lives there. Bravo. - Gary Young, [...]
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