Praise For Elizabeth's Poetry Much of the poetry in this book has a haiku-like quality, not in its form but in its style. Elizabeth Reninger's poetry can be read as both a meditation on a moment in nature, beautiful and complete in itself, but also where the elements of nature spontaneously suggest a more transcendent truth. Each poem is finely crafted while maintaining an ephemeral quality, something fully present yet fleeting. There is an inherent mysticism in these poems; they express a deep sense of stillness that resolves into pure awareness. Beautiful and highly recommended! ~ Ivan Granger, poet & architect of Poetry-Chaikhana ~ * ~ When time permits, I invite you to spend an eternity walking among the finely polished syllables of the sixty-one poems in Elizabeth Reninger’s And Now The Story Lives Inside You. “North Boulder Creek,” “Butterfly,” “Sand Castles,” “Winter Birch & Stars” and the other gems in this remarkable debut collection bring to the page a great economy of language, laser-crisp and metaphorical, reminiscent of traditional Chinese and Japanese poetry—yet with a clear, new voice. Here we see the realism of the natural world combined with the deeper mysteries that unfold before the eyes of an observer with an eagle’s eyes. Reninger sees the wild things and wild places with great accuracy, reminiscent of the clarity Annie Dillard (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek) brings to her books—yet with a knowing that breaks down the boundaries between ourselves and the world around us. Every careful brush stroke in the smooth-flowing calligraphy of Reninger’s lines calls forth old secrets, old mysteries, old wisdom—the energies behind the manifestations of rocks and birds and clouds—that transform in our reading of them into our own evolving stories. You will, with certainty, mature with the “young grasses coming up like dreams from the Earth’s revolving sleep,” move ahead as your “body turns where your breath takes it,” and attune yourself to the secrets of meadow and forest as you learn “how to walk as though caressing the Earth.” I invite you, when time permits, to set aside your map and compass, and follow your intuition down the pathways of Reninger’s words to catch the dancing light, to glimpse spirit’s “fiercely elegant dash from mystery into the manifest,” and to find your own reflection in nature’s all-seeing mirror. ~ M. R. Cambell, Cambell Editorial ~ * ~ This volume marks the emergence of a major new voice in contemporary poetry. To read Elizabeth Reninger is like discovering some hidden ancient grove where holy Mysteries are celebrated. Here we, the initiates, drink from crystalline streams and witness aspen and pine transform into symbols of the divine presence. These radiant poems will surely be loved and cherished for generations to come. ~ Dorothy Walters, author, Marrow of Flame: Poems of the Spiritual Journey; Cloth Of Fine Gold: Poems Of The Inner Journey; & Unmasking the Rose: A Record of a Kundalini Initiation ~ * ~ Elizabeth’s poems remind us of those vast and holy places within us and outside us. Her first full-length collection is truly a celebration of the natural world where our spirits dwell, and find their solace and joy. ~ Andrea Potos, winner of the 2004 James Hearst Poetry Prize, and author of The Perfect Day |