Anca Vlasopolos' poems are a battle cry-bracing, powerful and luminous. With spare eloquence, she evokes a world that's turned cruel and unforgiving. Her poetry is as distinct as her fingerprints. --Patricia Abbott, author of Monkey Justice and Other Stories Walking Toward Solstice captures a restless naturalist's and poet's eye that scans the landscape of Southeast Michigan, whether urban, suburban, or its patches of isolated wilderness, for the signs of life and struggle that often are bracing reminders of our own mortality. Vlasopolos has a relentless, fierce vision, without sentimentality: this book of intricately-wrought lyrics sharpens the soul and offers fortification for all readers as we each tread toward one solstice or another. -Caroline Maun, author of The Sleeping and Mosaic of Fire: The Work of Lola Ridge, Evelyn Scott, Charlotte Wilder and Kay Boyle