MOUNTAIN OFFERINGS

A volume of poems focused on nature and humanity.

Allen explores geography, emotions, and family in this collection. In the opening poem, the Vermont-based author luxuriates in nature, admiring birds, while others attempt to photograph the sunset over Lake Champlain. A musical ode to the Green Mountain State inspires the speaker and her friends to dance and rejoice, “united in the knowledge of the gift we call home.” She and a companion hunt for wild onions in “Foraging.” “Open Water” describes a meet-cute scene in a pet store. A June-themed poem recalls the youthful joy of bike rides, rope bracelets, and snow cones during the “season of endless possibility.” Later, relaxing after a hike, the speaker predicts that “someday I will wish / to be back in this moment.” After recounting a sweet memory of her mother in “Krummholz,” she realizes “there’s no one left now / to love me that way.” As a mother herself, she finds refuge in a greenhouse while her daughter spends eight days in a hospital, “under fluorescent lights / and heated blankets, / working on not dying.” Later, the speaker details the “synchronous / solitary vigils” of the other parents in the children’s hospital family lounge. In another poem, she observes her daughter at the age of 15, trying to reconcile the many “versions of you.” Allen’s descriptions and insights are awe-inspiring. Her lively language will grab readers’ attention in lines like “the screen door smacked a goodbye” and “the fireplace / hummed orange”; they’ll easily envision the “twisted persistent trees” and the “black fly heat” the poet describes. Though the book itself is slim, the poems are weighty with emotion. Describing the unique pain of losing a sibling in “Brotherhood of the Brotherless,” Allen writes: “There should be an asterisk / on everything that comes after.” There’s also a discreet sensuality in lines like “I lifted the covers and slid in beside you / my chilled limbs seeking yours.” But “Hope Is a Voice,” a piece for poet Amanda Gorman, feels out of place in this work.

A heartfelt and resonant collection of poetry.