Trailing the Azimuth
- Arts & Literature
- Publisher: Resource Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2021
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Publisher's Description
Trailing the Azimuth guides the readers down various trails through striking imagery, resonant language, and intensity of vision. Linked by allusions to the "azimuth," the poems in this collection represent the search for direction in a world that is complex and uncertain, prompting the journey toward light and more mindfulness of self, others, and God. These lyrical compasses exhibit a multiplicity of style and subject informed by the poet's travels, interest in hiking, and cultural awareness. Her multifaceted handicraft draws energy and empathy from everything in her background. Taking us along on walks within her own native landscape and around the world, Danita Dodson gives us verses about the ancestral identities of an Appalachian homeplace, meditations upon places like the Southwest that unfold Native American storytelling, celebrations of global journeys that rejoice both diversity and oneness, psalms that uplift the divine presence in nature, and poems that reveal healing pathways through COVID-19 by elevating memory, hope, and rebirth. Illuminated by Dodson's unique voice as both a mountain woman and a citizen of the world, Trailing the Azimuth bridges physical and spiritual landscapes, offering readers a word map as they traverse their own paths of life.
Endorsements (6)
“Whether you are an explorer, spiritual contemplative, or poetry lover craving a glimpse into the mystical beauty of life, you owe it to yourself to take this enchanting journey. . . . Threads of light and hope skillfully weave the natural with the supernatural, and I felt refreshed and uplifted.”
“Trailing the Azimuth plumbs the deep complexities of being Appalachian, both inside and outside of Appalachia—a passionate exploration of beauty that ultimately transcends any region. Dodson’s is a fresh yet familiar voice. She has delivered here an extraordinary first collection of poems that will resonate long after the last one has been read.”
“Part travelogue, part book of psalms, part meditation on a world-shaking pandemic, this collection reminds us of ‘the responsibility to remember,’ to ‘[bring] to light / the gold of buried knowledge.’ Dodson does so with keen observation and musicality, spiritual centeredness and mindfulness, and a deep love of place and culture. . . . After so much pandemic darkness and despair, this book offers its readers love and light.”
“Written in the spirit of a travel journal, these poems capture what it might be like to walk alongside Dodson on the trail. The reader is immediately struck with the union of the ‘here and now,’ the ‘what once was,’ and the ‘what lies beyond.’ . . . Dodson possesses a keen eye and perceptive lyrics, both of which are on full display here.”
“The wisdom of Dodson’s words resonates in her soft attention to the nature, people, and wildlife of southern Appalachia and elsewhere. Familiar, song-like rhythms mix with clear images to compose poems that both dazzle and inspire awe. This collection embodies learning, looking, and each love that surrounds the speaker, and by extension, us.”
“Trailing the Azimuth is an extraordinary collection, an exquisite cornucopia of sights, sounds, and impressions. . . . Each re-reading of the poems found me the grateful beneficiary of Danita Dodson’s keen sensibility and sure-handed writing, guaranteeing that I’ll be pulling this book from my shelf, savoring its contents, for a long time to come.”
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