What Still Matters

Poems by Benicia Poet Laureate Emerita Johanna Ely, reflecting on what still matters after the years of the Pandemic "This collection by Johanna Ely is an invitation into our natural world and all its delicacies. This book speaks to the 'soft dark earth' and the 'calligraphy of winter.' There are vital questions in these pages. The poet asks us 'what if one day the trees in our town uprooted themselves.' And in these questions, there are journeys worth exploring. The poems in these pages resonate and in them you will find old fence lines, Japanese maples, origami flowers, a silver necklace missing a clasp, and a letter to Frida Kahlo. These poems will make backroads and bridges into your psyche. You will find "a small sturdy boat" and will feel compelled and delighted to 'climb on board, without a map.' "

-Connie Post, Author of Prime Meridian and Between Twilight