Review of ‘Measures’ by B. L. Bruce from The Prairies Book Review

Luminous and piercing… Lyrical and reflective, award-winning Bruce’s latest, a collection of poems, micropoetry, and American haiku, offers a litany of ruminations on nature, love, and self. “Full Moon at Albion River” is a meditation on the wonders of nature. With her knack for creating intricate emotional textures, Bruce infuses mourning and grief with tangible [...]

NEW RELEASE: Measures by B. L. Bruce (Poetry)

NEW RELEASE: Measures by B. L. Bruce (Poetry)

In February of 2014, my debut collection of poetry, The Weight of Snow, was published. Now, seven years later, my latest collection, Measures, is here. Now available on Amazon in print and eBook format. In Measures, B. L. Bruce’s third collection of poetry, the author deftly explores grief, loss, the visual measures of time, and [...]

“Cachagua Road” Published in Feral’s “Love” Issue

“Cachagua Road” Published in Feral’s “Love” Issue

Cachagua Road From the low bridge over the river you spoke,blue lupines rising silently beneath the oaks,weighed with the damp of evening.Your words were carried away downstream,lost to me. I felt a sadness,heavy as stones.I listen—bending of waterover rocks, wind in the armsof the trees. I’ve learned the voicesof the robin, the towhee,thrasher—useless except forthe [...]

“Rainsong” Winner of the PushPen Press Pendant Prize for Poetry

RAINSONG What of this winter here?The unhappy song of rain andwind in the bay laurel,rainwater in the fountaina mixing of what is oursand what is not. I go to the meadowwhen the storm has slowedto see what has changed,what unknowable thirst was quenched: the howl and fury in the nightbrought down the tall sequoia,and with [...]

New Poem “Mockingbird” by Poet B. L. Bruce Published in Visitant

New Poem “Mockingbird” by Poet B. L. Bruce Published in Visitant

MOCKINGBIRD As it often doesmoving by memory,your body finds mine, fitspuzzled into angles and curvesin those hushed hours—were it not for the mockingbirdscreaming into the moonlit,slate-grey sky. I envy you,your unbothered sleep.No torment. No great,stirring voicein your mindscreaming,screaming. c. B. L. BruceFirst published by VisitantFollow Bruce on Instagram @thepoesis and Twitter @the_poesis

Poem “Dark Star” Published in Emerge Literary Journal’s Issue 16

Poem “Dark Star” Published in Emerge Literary Journal’s Issue 16

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 [...]

POETRY REVIEWERS WANTED for Forthcoming and Third Collection, “Measures,” by Award-Winning Poet B. L. Bruce

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 [...]

Excerpt from “At Henry Cowell State Park, Early Winter”

Excerpt from “At Henry Cowell State Park, Early Winter”

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 [...]

Poem “North” in Visitant

Poem “North” in Visitant

NORTH For a moment in the calm,between gusts of wind:the faint push of air beneath wing.The northern harrier drifts abovea flowering field of yellow mustard. Bobbing among the eddies,the murre learn centuriesof the waterwork and currents,driven unthinking by whatwe cannot know. Farther still, the north horizonis choked with fog;the clover lies trampled by salt windalong [...]