Mouth Art of the Bald-faced Hornet

Mouth Art of the Bald-faced Hornet explores the interwoven human and natural histories of a local creek and woodland through the process of colonial settlement to the present day. Juxtaposing lyrics of the present with historical accounting, these poems engage the human stories shaping natural history while riffing on what it might mean to read a local landscape over time. Botany, reproductive strategies, fairy tales, forgotten atrocities, and deep history all suggest different possibilities for human relationships with one another and with the extra-human world. While engaging with embedded violence, abuse, and loss, these poems still insist on beauty, yearning, and the potential for transformation.