Tracing Bodies

Don't miss this stellar collection from the author of the award-winning ECHOES FROM THE HOCKER HOUSE! In Tracing Bodies, Virginia Watts maps the delicate, aching terrain of memory, love, and loss with unflinching honesty. These poems pulse with the ghosts of the past-childhood shadows, family echoes, and the quiet, enduring presence of the natural world. With lyrical precision and a storyteller's heart, Watts invites us into a world where the past lingers, grief hums beneath the surface, and beauty can be found in even the most fleeting moments. "Watts captures gritty characters in stunning detail throughout the book. Watts' striking poems are at once intimate and universal. Her characters come to life in evocative details... A vulnerable, cleareyed portrait of humanity." KIRKUS "Watts continues to blend "you are here" moments of revelation and discovery with a special thread of personal insight in a Proust-like manner. Her approach places readers in the position of not just observing life moments, but experiencing them vicariously... Vivid in its connections and reflections and filled with both personal experience and reflections, Tracing Bodies provides a wealth of insights that are delightfully experiential and emotionally evocative. They're highly recommended even to those who think they won't like or understand poetry. Here is a door to what modern free verse can achieve, accessible to not just literary readers, but to all." MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW