New Numbers

These poems step forth with their eyes closed, trust that some soil will support their weight. Josie Kearns begins where language leaves off – this is not whimsical reinventions but a strong case for extension that flowers from need. The poet finds both ease and struggle in the infinite; her lines push through their landscapes as if the air will both carry and resist them. This understanding of the nature of things makes Kearns’ poetry so gently balanced, so willing to let life maneuver itself through the clutter. Her poems have a clairvoyant quality; she is one of the “messengers between worlds,” the medium for what, until now, was nameless.