OLD ELM SPEAKS: Tree Poems

by Kristine O'Connell George ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 21, 1998

In a paean to trees, George and Kiesler follow up on The Great Frog Race and Other Poems (1997), with a similar specialized collection of nature poetry, loosely organized around the four seasons. An astute beholder, George resists the obvious--acorns, apples, leaves falling--for tiny, honed observations on the knotholes in a fence, a hammock that ""fills the empty space between two trees,"" or a jutting branch that doubles as ""a tree horse"" rather than a tree house. A dozen words or so are bound into small parcels; even as the contents are unwrapped, there is room for the imagination. Told from the point of view of an oak tree or a fisherman that snags a pine, this ode begs comparison to Janice May Udry's A Tree is Nice (1955). Kiesler has lightened her textured oil palette with the new greens of leaves and maple shoots, pale cream buds, and a bright wayward kite against a winter white snow sky. Her figures, particularly faces, are deliberately abstract compared to the portraits of her main characters--trees. A lovely, often luminous, collection.

Pub Date: Sept. 21, 1998

ISBN: 0618752420

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Clarion

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1998

Categories: POETRY