There is listening, and there is listening truly. Phibby Venable's is the second kind, and her poems a true telling of what she has heard Listen to these poems. Believe the earth is singing, intent as any bird would be before a shake and flight to trees. George Wallace, writer in residence, Walt Whitman Birthplace. I would like to affirm that this is poetry that not only delights but, through its instinctive perception of, as well as insight into the human experience, is also inherently wise. A volume of poems so rich in imagination, poetic intent, and the very making of poems, their creation and, by extension, creation itself, that I do not hesitate to recommend it to every serious lover of poetry, as well as to other serious poets, as a book to read, reread, and keep nearby for that random, ravishing experience of catching life's essence on the wing Marya Berry