In The Niagara River Kay Ryan, our poet laureate for 2008-2009, writes brief, dense poems that are deceptively easy to read. The spare language is packed with meanings that imply greater things. Each short line vaults the reader forward by miles and results in arriving that much closer to the inarticulate. Her short poems contain many surprises in both internal and slant kinds of rhyme combined with exact rhyme. Ryan describes poetry as an intensely personal experience for both the writer and the reader. “The poem is operating so deeply in you that it is the most special kind of reading.” This is a slim volume holding gems of language, wit and wisdom that holds firm with many readings. ~ Gretchen Echols
“The poem is a raid on the inarticulate.” ~T.S. Eliot

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