Ashland

We look away from his open mouth, look instead at the corn, the crows floating above the river in their private worries. Tonight, when we turn in, the candle will sputter and blow. Pinched out easily, all flame gives way to this wide black wing. — excerpt from “Black Wing”

The poems in Ashland, originally published by ECW in 2003, lay the groundwork for Adamson’s award–winning and internationally bestselling novel, The Outlander.

Neogothicism, the surrealist snapshot, feminist Western and ...