What the Country Wrought
by Annis Cassells
What the Country Wrought explores and connects the meanings, nuances, and feel of “country.”
In this compelling collection you will discover poems of rural roots, legacies, and the mainstays of home, family, and personal identity. Poems that address societal issues and truths America as a whole has wrought. Poems that revel in the ideals and spirit of building a country: perseverance, independence, audacity, and sisterhood.
From motorcycling adventures to women’s suffrage, from the thunder of injustice to compassion and peace, Annis Cassells writes with an eye for description, an ear for musicality, and a heart for us all.
“Ranging from lyric to prose, haibun to ekphrastic, the poems shimmer with life. As we give ourselves over to the language and images of this luminous book, we may find that for us, too, ‘grief slides over,’ and that whatever else it is, ‘the world is wondrous.’” Catherine Abbey Hodges, author of In a Rind of Light
“With a mastery of storytelling through relatable poetry, Annis Cassells’s poems exude strength and self-compassion as she learns ‘to extend grace…even to myself’.” Ronald Montgomery, author of When Hearts Surrender
“Annis Cassells honors family roots, and tackles racial and gender injustices in this shimmering, honest poetry collection.” Kathleen Cassen Mickelson, co-founder, Gyroscope Review; author of How We Learned to Shut Our Own Mouths
Annis Cassells is a poet, teacher, and coach. What the Country Wrought is her second full-length collection. She longingly recalls her adventures traversing the USA on Big Red, her trusty motorcycle. To compensate, she is often over-scheduled for writing and poetry workshops in far-away places over Zoom.
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