Read and discuss a book of poems with others who appreciate poetry and like to take a closer look at form, structure, and craft. Discussions will be lively and interactive, and participants will have a chance to share thoughts and ask questions. Come prepared to read your favorite poems, lines, and passages from the book aloud.

This month's selection is Trophic Cascade by Camille T. Dungy. The discussion will be led by Judy Bertelsen

In this fourth book in a series of award-winning survival narratives, Dungy writes positioned at a fulcrum, bringing a new life into the world even as her elders are passing on. In a time of massive environmental degradation, violence, and abuse of power, a world in which we all must survive, these poems resonate within and beyond the scope of the human realms, delicately balancing between conflicting loci of attention. Dwelling between vibrancy and its opposite, Dungy writes in a single poem about a mother, a daughter, Smokin' Joe Frazier, brittle stars, giant boulders, and a dead blue whale. These poems are written in the face of despair to hold an impossible love and a commitment to hope.

Judy Bertelsen has been writing poetry all her life. She has participated in many workshops, including Community of Writers, Catamaran Writers’ Conference, Tin House (both poetry and creative nonfiction), Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, and Surprise Valley Writers’ Conference. She is a retired physician.