Removing

"In these poems Melissa Butler has the unique ability to take almost anything that happens to catch her eye or to gure in her mind’s eye—these can range from a bowl to a hadeda, from the concept of edges to the cusp of a silence—and make it speak volumes not only about itself, but about us in our human lives. Such are her poetic gifts; and such is the quality of this remarkable debut."

"The experience of reading the poems in removing is, wonderfully, one of a late-night conversation with a warm, imaginative, thoughtful, observant and compassionate friend. In pellucid language and deeply satisfying images of the real, Melissa Butler manages to talk about the great questions of humanity as lightly and easily as if she were tossing out a picnic blanket."