Welcome to the February edition of Blue Heron Speaks. It is an honor and a true pleasure to showcase the work of author Yvonne Stephens (The Salt Before It Shakes, Hidden Timber Books, 2017). With grace and skill, Stephens draws the reader in by approaching difficult topics with tenderness, but also a raw vulnerability. There is great sensitivity in all of her poems, as she deals with life themes such as loss, parenthood, family, and change in her new collection. Stephens reaches out and brings the natural world to us in magical ways, whether it is gathering and wearing rays of light, “Lined them up / around the base of my neck / and wore the sun,” or bearing witness to the sacredness of both the life of a tomato and the life of a hornworm. Intricate details are held with great care, like examining a needle and a thread. The world slows down in these poems, and the reader slows down with them, in awe and appreciation.

Visit the Blue Heron Speaks Featured Author Page of our site, to read 3 sample poems by Yvonne Stephens from her new book, The Salt Before It Shakes, and to learn how you can order your own copy of this thoughtful, engaging collection!

Yvonne Stephens lives with her husband and two children in Northwest Lower Michigan. She has worked as an assistant in the fields of mycology, forestry, and neurology research, volunteered for two years in the AmeriCorps, and most recently was an Artist Residency Coordinator for the Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology. An award-winning poet, Yvonne was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2015, and her poems have appeared in the Dunes Review, the LAND Creative Writing Journal, and Family Stories from the Attic.  She is the author of The Salt Before It Shakes (Hidden Timber Books, 2017).  Find out more about this author:  http://www.poetwith40eyes.com/