Oasis is a refuge of comfort and safety, a plunge into beauty, a respite from toil. It can offer a pause for reflection on the journey; perhaps a time for Memories of Ice cream on a hot sidewalk where childhood skipped… This precious resource, Laura Williams-Chassot reveals is within. It is not kind, not necessarily gentle, with Memories of Healing pain that can’t be fixed; but is nurturing. It is not always accessible. But it is there-or here. Even when the worst confronts us, our individual paths can lead us to an oasis of sustaining energy and insight.
This volume of poetry forms a loosely sketched narrative, each work a way station on an autobiographical pilgrimage. Each element stands alone with its particular subject matter, structure, and vocabulary–not a series but a metaphorical possibility. The poet is a painter. The painting is a poem.
But essentially Laura is the elusive trickster who engages simple observation as a mirror of paradoxical truths. A poet who enlists the reader as an ally while - reserving facets and riddles of understanding to be revealed in future encounters.