I joined many others in the “ghost book” category, when my chapbook, Matryoshka Houses, debuted mid covid (https://www.amazon.com/Matryoshka-Houses-Lynn-Pattison/dp/1952326257 ). A zoom reading or two, a review, some local sales, and that was that. Still, we always thrill when we see one of our “babies” in print, the book is lovely. 

My work can be read at Ruminate: https://www.ruminatemagazine.com/search?q=Lynn+Pattison and at Vitni Review: http://vitnireview.org/lynn-pattison/ as well as in recent issues of Moon City Review, Mom Egg Review, and Slipstream. 

While Covid-times kept me sequestered, it provided lots of time to peruse books by poets I admire. I’ve spent long hours with the spectacular Frank: Sonnets, by Diane Seuss– setting it aside now and then to prolong my experience of it. It’s so unique that I am not sure when I will encounter anything like it again, so, I don’t want to power through it.

On my bedside table: Bone Rosary, New & Selected Poems, by Thomas Lynch; Come the Slumberless to the Land of Nod, by Traci Brimhall, and Letter from a Place I’ve Never Been, New and Collected Poems, 1986-2020, by Hilda Raz. They are all rich and inspiring. 

I am enamored with Disappearing Queen, by Gail Martin. Gail is a psychotherapist in my community, and a writing ally. Her poems never fail to astound me, and though I figure I know her quite well, I am always surprised, sometimes puzzled, and ever impressed by her take on life. And on death–the waning and the disappeared. Memories are visceral and immediate in her poems. There is little romanticizing. She focuses a direct gaze, refusing to look away. And then, suddenly, there is something magical, as in “Rose,” which appears in the night and is life changing. Because I have believed everything else in this collection, I believe this, too. Martin’s dead are here, and the challenges of living, but also, celebration, joy. I am particularly impressed when I encounter a glosa in the collection. Several grace these pages and they are astute and admirable. 

As I look to the future I want to assemble/hone another full manuscript. I plan to continue my participation in the artist and writer collaborative that I’ve been involved in for the past several years. It is an ongoing project related to the examination, understand, and celebration of Photosynthesis. The collaborative has been a source of inspiration, learning and energy. 

BIO

Lynn Pattison’s work appeared, most recently, at Ruminate and Moon City Review. It has also appeared in Smartish Pace, Pinyon, The Notre Dame Review, Mom Egg Review and elsewhere, and has been included in several anthologies.  Her chapbook, Matryoshka Houses (Kelsay Press) debuted in June, 2020. Pattison has published three previous collections: tesla’s daughter (March St. Press); Walking Back the Cat (Bright Hill Press) and Light That Sounds Like Breaking (Mayapple Press).

Look for Lynn Pattison on Facebook. Contact her at teslasdaughte@gmail.com