Continuity

The poems in Norma Wilson's Continuity are like red-tail hawks effortlessly riding the thermals of high summer, spiraling through memory and experience, through past and present. Sewing a dress with a grandmother, making blackberry pies, hunting for morels, encountering sumac and goldenrod juxtaposed against a basalt bluff, contemplating pre-historic etchings on cave walls-these poems deliver a sustained meditation on the fragility and joy of being alive. . Kevin Cole, Professor of English, University of Sioux Falls ..The musicality in Norma Wilson's Continuity invites the reader to relax and savor a trip to the prairie, and embrace the power of Spirit Mound to refresh and heal. As we travel through the land, past, and present, Wilson explores the nature of what binds us. . Constance Brewer, Editor, Gyroscope Review ..In her new collection, Continuity Norma Wilson nails it. She quilts and arranges images, sounds, people, food, and places---weaving concrete daily life into quilted beauty while not ignoring tough parts like pipelines destroying water or COVID. This lovely collection brings home the reality that we are all part of one another through generations, like the poem "My Mother, My Daughter." Her poems sing and dance with drums and jazzy tunes in a mosaic with coyotes, bald eagles, hawks, morels, and moss. So many favorites linger---"Grandma's Dresses" and "Paper Cranes"---love shines through her world and keeps us going---continuity indeed.. Jennifer Soule, professor emerita, author of poetry collections Hiawatha Asylum, and Postcard Days