It's a stunning act of courage when Johanna Ely manipulates twenty-six letters and spells out a depth of pain, yearning, and everyday contemplations from the alphabet soup of her mind.

Her voice, attuned to brilliant imagery, is both subtle and striking as she wields her palette of pinks, greys, and metallic threads over each page of this collection. She's a language artist who travels through dappled sunlight and bleak shadows to bare her gifted essence.

About the Author

Johanna Ely is the author of two chapbooks, Transformation (2015) and Tides of the Heart-Poems for Benicia (2018). She is an award-winning poet and had a poem nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2018. She has been published in many journals and anthologies, including The Poeming Pigeon and California Quarterly. Johanna served as the sixth poet laureate for Benicia, California. In 2018, she collected poems written by the Benicia First Tuesday Poets and put forth the anthology, Light and Shadow, published by Benicia Literary Arts. She hosts the monthly series, Poetry Inside Out, inviting poets from all over the Bay Area to come to Benicia and read their work. She also enjoys writing ekphrastic poetry and has coordinated many ekphrastic readings at the local galleries.