In the pages that comprise An Overdose of Meditation, the poet readily confesses that "remembering, supposing, counting, assessing/ is no way to spend the time. It is an overdose/ of meditation." Yet the poet has devised a formula through which she realizes that thoughtful perception is a vital principle of life. The direct way, she says, to the inner fruit is through the interior power of the soul.Whether the poet is conducting her orchestra or piloting the reader through space and time (either occupation her natural instrument), Mitchell's meditative poems reveal her poetic underpinnings. These poems are alive with metaphor, wry humor, and elemental confession as if to assure that when we read her work, sparks will fly up and take hold, kindling our own emotive fire. SAMPLE POEM:

STANDARD DEVIATION

Resting after a fall never means

not getting up at all, but resting just until

worries begin their flight.

And for that relief, all that is needed

is a down pillow, and high windows to deliver

a share of moon's ambient light.

Or is this break a dumbness

and excuse,

another silly respite

just to put vexations right?

With no more to lose, it is time now to fracture

useless worry.

This resolve places me handily

on the brink of happiness,

just at the door of delight,

neatly positioned at the edge of comfort.