Nursling of the Sky by Susan Charkes
advance praise for Susan Charkes’ book, Nursling of the Sky
Nursling of the Sky, is well worth wading into and yes, suspending doubt in favor of remarkable transformation. We enter a world where science and imagination fuse. The book’s title, taken from a Shelley quatrain, introduces us to the possibility of change rather than death. Four sections include, under the subtitle, Metamorphosis: I/ »Double-crested Cormorant2, II/ »Carolina Wren, III/ »Mourning Dove, and finally IV/ »Red-tailed Hawk. Charkes not only observes but becomes the woman frozen with grief discovering rebirth through birds, including spirit, cognition, physicality, and emotion. I am not talking about the personification of birds but a strange and gorgeous entering, as though for once, we really become another. There are intersections in this book as well as unions. Charkes begins with “Argument: the paths of two bodies, falling one faster than the other, intersect.” Not only do bodies fall and move into each other, but time also falls and slows and augments. Readers move without faltering between simple language, scientific names, a smattering of equations, and lush, surprising language. All of it, poignant and full of soundscapes. There is despair but also reassurance as human becomes bird in duet with her guide bird. Charkes’ chorus of poetry lifts us into unexpected places. Indeed, with her, we are both species and time travelers. We are both human readers and water-dwelling cormorant then land-dwelling wren relearning to fly then mourning dove and finally red-tailed hawk. We soar between long lines and short as though on wings. “Leaden water pulls like a plumb bob, tautening all the connecting bones, base of spine to wing tips…” and “…O throat of moonglow / …O eye of starshine / …O wing of whirling galaxy.” This utterly remarkable and compelling book combines analysis with the experiential and of course, the magical. This is what poetry is about: bringing together all of life and finding a way to enter it with both magic and science. I will read this again, I am sure.
—Amy Small-McKinney, author of One Day I Am A Field (Glass Lyre Press, 2016) and forthcoming book, & You Think It Ends (Glass Lyre Press)
Susan Charkes lives in southeastern Pennsylvania among avians and their allies. Nursling of the Sky (Plan B Press, 2024), is a birdly poem sequence on metamorphosis as a response to suffering, using a variety of forms and vocal effects. Susan’s first poetry chapbook, sp. (The Operating System, 2017), explored implications for biodiversity from ecological change. She also writes fiction and nonfiction, mostly in earth tones. Her essay, “The Power of Placement,” appears in the anthology Rooted 2, The Best New Arboreal Nonfiction (Outpost19, 2023). Her poems have appeared online and in print at Amethyst Review, Arsenic Lobster, Cider Press Review, Clade Song, Cleaver, Denver Quarterly, Gargoyle, Magma, The Matador Review, Posit, Prick of the Spindle, Redactions, Spoon River Poetry Review, Storyscape, The Wax Paper, What Rough Beast, and elsewhere. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Follow her at https://susancharkes.com.