Fog Totem

In Fog Totem, Anne Mitchell takes us on a journey via poetic snapshots of ocean and fog, the pandemic, a divorce, loss of a beloved dog, knee surgery, a fledging daughter, and more...all with humor, musical wordplay, and irony. In these poems, we see tourists who "shiver in their shorts," "pelicans (who) have all the moves," a "dance to the hiss of rattlesnake grass," and the "abalone iridescence of a hummingbird's throat." Vivid imagery and a narrator's perspective that stays with you.

-Susan Vespoli, author of Blame It On the Serpent, Cactus as Bad Boy, and One of Them Was Mine

As one who often holds her breath for many reasons, reading Anne Mitchell's poem "Breathe," not only got me to inhale and exhale slowly and with pleasure, it got me to reclaim a level of ease and awareness that had fled. "Life will not always go your way./ The bees will disappear from the hive/ and the orange Tomcat will wander off to die/ without leaving a note..." Can't we all recognize ourselves in that? Fog Totem will bring you back to what matters most. These poems will slow you down so you too can breathe more easily and be reminded of what matters most.

-Patrice Vecchione, author of My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth

With whimsy and wordplay Anne Mitchell scours the attic of a life filled with heartache and hope, all the while rendering the details of everyday life into a poetry of attention. Far from prose that pretends to verse, Fog Totem is poetry in its truest sense and purpose.

-Rags Rosenberg is songwriter/poet and artist in residence at The Hofsas House in Carmel, Ca