Leaning toward Light: Poems for Gardens & the Hands That Tend Them
Much like reading a good poem, caring for plants brings comfort, solace, and joy to many. In this new poetry anthology, Leaning Toward Light, acclaimed poet and avid gardener Tess Taylor brings together a diverse range of contemporary voices to offer poems that celebrate that joyful connection to the natural world. Several of the most well-known contemporary writers, as well as some of poetry’s exciting rising stars, contribute to this collection including Ross Gay, Jericho Brown, Mark Doty, Jane Hirshfield, Ada Limón, Danusha Laméris, Naomi Shihab Nye, Garrett Hongo, Ellen Bass, and James Crews. A foreword by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, reflective pauses and personal recipes from some of the contributing poets, along with original, whimsical illustrations by Melissa Castrillon, and a ribbon bookmark complete this stunning, hardcover gift format.
Praise for Leaning Toward Light
"Leaning Toward Light is a reflective and hopeful collection of thoughtfully curated poems that will move and inspire gardeners as well as cooks. It would make an equally fine gift for nearly anyone."
— Kristina Sepetys, Edible East Bay
“This collection brings together many of my favorite writers to celebrate the limitless offerings of nature; wandering through its pages feels like taking a long stroll through a beautiful garden.”
— Alice Waters, chef, author, food activist, and founder of Chez Panisse and the Edible Schoolyard Project
“Among the many things to love about this beautiful anthology is that it reminds us that gardening is a gathering practice, a practice of gathering, and the more we do it together—with collaborators human, critterly, fungal, floral, meteorological, cosmic, unborn, living, living now as soil, etc.—the better, by which I mean the more lovingly, the more belovingly, the more truly, we do it.”
— Ross Gay, author of Inciting Joy and The Book of Delights
“It’s thrilling to see in these pages a reflection of the world I want to live in.”
— Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of the New York Times bestseller World of Wonders, from the foreword
“As Aimee Nezhukamatathil reminds us in the delightful and informative foreword to this bountiful collection, the word anthology means a gathering of flowers. How perfect is this bouquet! Diverse and delightful. At turns, tender and tough. I'm sure I'll be reading the poems gathered in this anthology for years to come.”
— Camille T. Dungy, author of Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden
“Leaning Toward Light is both a loving tribute to the natural world and a recognition of the profound need for the human spirit to be connected to the gardens of the world if we are to thrive. The artwork and recipes makes this gathering of poems even more delicious.”
— Florencia Ramirez, author of Eat Less Water: The Solution to Worldwide Water Shortages is in our Kitchens
“I’m reminded that in 1629 John Parkinson wrote an herbal, or plant compendium, entitled “In Sole, Paradisus Terrestris: “a sunny garden of earthly pleasures.” What an apt phrase for Taylor’s fruitful, rich, and earthy book.”
— Peter J. Hatch, Gardener, Historian, Emeritus Director of Gardens and Grounds, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello