In the Mellow Light: Collected Poems

"The essence of a poem" writes Shirley Russak Wachtel in this poetry collection spanning over thirty years, "is the middle of things." This notion is beautifully illustrated as, in a variety of poetic styles including rhyme, free verse, pantoume, and haiku, she illumines life's "ordinary" activities. Whether it is contemplating a red cardinal in her own backyard, emptying the sand from the pockets of her son's shorts, making a tuna fish sandwich, or watching the swollen backs of old women r...