Why Horses

"With her characteristic wit and unique ability to witness, Anita K. Boyle convinces us that an ocean smooth as a sheet of paper set upon a table, the feral flush of pink roses, the inner cavity of a chicken, and small saw-blades of salal-these, 'dog-gone it, are what beauty is about.' Boyle's poems speak a Cascadian dialect in conversation with her influences, such as Gerald Stern, Lucia Perillo, Louise Bogan, and Brigit Pegeen Kelly. Rooted in love-for the Pacific Northwest; for the creatures of her barnyard and home; for the pen and for Jim, her partner in life and in poetry-these poems heal like 'the cool green of mosses / as they press lightly onto the big / and little bruises of our lives.'"  

-Nancy Pagh, author of Once Removed and No Sweeter Fat

"In Why Horses we're asked to become like the birds and 'solicit abandon.' To closely observe life and its elements through precisely chosen words, reaching to touch the old horse's leg and instead finding 'thin lines penciled to the ground.' When "'he cool, gray meets the hushed, rough-hewn fields,' we no longer observe the pond, but live within the miraculous details of water and feather. Boyle's poetry pairs the vast with the minute, coaxing us along the 'trail to the other side of the mountain.'"

-Nancy Canyon, author of Celia's Heaven

"Anita K. Boyle's lyrical poems, 'soak up the earth's sweet music in the afterlight.' She cracks open the world to offer us 'a spiraling nebula / a minuscule universe... a helix of tiny suns' to clear away the gloom. She talks to us of waves, and sand, and gratitude; shows us 'a hand-held miracle.' In her clear, bright voice the poet sings, 'an ineffable tune, / lovely enough to be unending, / and final.'"

-Rena Priest, author of Patriarchy Blues