A captivating poetry collection about the beauty and pain of being a woman in our world. During a season of emotional distance in her marriage wildfires erupt across California—her family on a whim decides to sell their home in the Bay Area and move across the country. Kassi’s poems explore the themes of change, grief, hard lessons, growth, motherhood, and love’s resilience. The through line is a deep desire to rise above the status quo and flourish with a reignited passion for life. Kassi’s accessible poems will resonate with women, wives, and moms offering solace and inspiration.
A captivating poetry collection about the beauty and pain of being a woman in our world. During a season of emotional distance in her marriage wildfires erupt across California—her family on a whim decides to sell their home in the Bay Area and move across the country. Kassi’s poems explore the themes of change, grief, hard lessons, growth, motherhood, and love’s resilience. The through line is a deep desire to rise above the status quo and flourish with a reignited passion for life. Kassi’s accessible poems will resonate with women, wives, and moms offering solace and inspiration.
Wildfires
I thought it was the increase in wildfires, trafficÂ
on 17, cost of living were my reasons for wantingÂ
to leave. Maybe it was the pandemic, schools
closing, quarantine. Or cancer and surgery thatÂ
left a scar on your throat. Maybe being isolated
for months as the distance between us simmeredÂ
inside our crumbling stucco house.Â
I think we both knew, we were more than readyÂ
for a change of scenery.Â
Flourishing
Has more to do with faith than ease
not giving up on love as loveÂ
upends every expectation.Â
Holding onto hopeÂ
even as the world despairs.Â
Notice gravity is bothÂ
friend & foe, keeps our toesÂ
on the ground
yet obstacles abound.
Sometimes in my imagination
I’m pushing a boulderÂ
up a steep hill
heaving with all my might.Â
If I stop halfwayÂ
any progress I gain
rolls away.
Anyhow what am IÂ
aiming for? Progress isÂ
always a movingÂ
target.
Staring Down Fear
I used to think my fears were the silly kind, the kindÂ
you’d laugh about at a dinner party, fears like snakesÂ
or swimming in open water with tiger sharks lurkingÂ
down below. Over the years my fears have matured.Â
I fear being alone for too long or walking in thick fogÂ
when the surrounding trees grow surreal. I realize now
I hate the cold late at night and the only warmth you
feel is steam from your own breath. Yet my fears goÂ
deeper than these things, more layered and hard toÂ
grasp on a conscious level. Sometimes I fear my inner-
critic…the voice in my mind. Voices eroding confidenceÂ
that steal my freedom and my joy. Voices deflating self-
worth. Voices fired up even fueled by deep-seatedÂ
insecurities. For reasons I don’t understand I’m relatingÂ
to my grandmother’s story—its devastating sadness.Â
She heard voices and it seemed crazy. Did her conditionÂ
warrant a sentence in a mental institution? SeparatedÂ
from family and society? I’ll never know. It’s tiresomeÂ
hearing the same platitudes. Something I wonder is…
we fear the things we don’t understand about ourselvesÂ
and others, we fear what we might find lurking insideÂ
the rooms of our minds. Those deemed crazy are putÂ
away in a brick building and by a twist of fate the publicÂ
is dealt a pass to not have to really see another’s pain.Â
I’ve been dealt the same pass, look the other way and maskÂ
what ails me. Although I know my wounds give me awayÂ
and I bleed.Â
Fire and Flourishing by Kassi Wilson is a collection of poems that takes the reader on an adventure through lush imagery of nature, self-awareness, and womanhood. Each poem follows the journey of a woman discovering herself amid hardship and change, interlaced with depictions of the natural world as the main backdrop to this stunning poetry.Â
As you delve into the interconnected poems and acquaint yourself with the author's unique style and characters, you will come to cherish the gentle power with which she weaves themes of growth, change, motherhood, and love, always set against the comforting embrace of nature. This evokes a sense of security and tranquillity, making these themes less daunting and easier to approach and relate to as they mirror women's experiences and emotions.
The poetry is crafted so masterfully that you don't need to analyse each line, stanza or word choice to appreciate the structural beauty (where sometimes the poems create a visual image!) or the story slowly being built with every line. Kassi Wilson has created a collection of poetry that is genuinely accessible and impactful, even to readers who do not usually flock to poetry or those with a limited understanding of poetic techniques. Most of the poems flow in free verse, a style of poetry that does not follow a specific rhyme or meter, and the unique beauty and simplicity of the poetry make it easy to digest.
The collection features some poems that have a specific emotional impact, which I found particularly daring and raw with lived experience and emotion - one of these poems is "When You Become a Mom", a poem that voices the struggle, pain and vulnerability that comes with motherhood, the poem voices the thoughts and feelings that are often left unsaid and ignored out of societal expectations placed on women. Even I, not a mother and not something I put much thought into, was impacted and moved by this poem, which leaves you with a couplet at the end:Â
"In the middle of it all you're not alone—
you'll make it through, you will, you'll see!"
Overall, this collection of poems is an essential read for women in all stages of life who are going through hardships and experiences that feel isolating or unacknowledged. Kassi Wilson's Fire and Flourishing depicts womanhood as the quintessential power of nature and gives voice to experiences that women often think about but do not talk about.Â
If you are a newcomer to poetry and are deeply interested in reading about women's experiences and/or the natural world, this is the perfect text for you. The carefully crafted narrative throughout makes this collection as welcoming to newcomers as it is to seasoned poetry lovers.Â