This is a wonderful collection of poetry written with
a clear voice and concise language. Carolyn Gelland begins as a storyteller
by a fire with a wild cat at her side, and transports us through time and
place, from Viking conquests to an Ipiutak burial site in Alaska to ancient
Peru, drawing from the subtle, the spiritual, as well as the splendor in
both Nature and what man can create, including what man can destroy. She
explores the studios of DeKooning, Munch, and Cezanne, takes joy in the
ordinary, marvels at both the power and peace in Nature, leaving the reader
on a wistful note with "ten /moons / on my eyelashes."
Read and enjoy this exploration of the world around
us through Gelland's observations and journeys through both the natural
and the metaphysical. I found myself reading this collection several times
over, and discovering something new each time. This is a thoughtful and
delightful first collection.
Jonathan K. Rice
Publisher/Editor Iodine Poetry Journal,
author of UKULELE and other poems
In the whispering galleries of Carolyn Gelland's Four-Alarm House gleam images of great delicacy and daring.
Her poems are boldly self-contained, compact, painterly and yet invitingly
inlaid with surrealist intimations. I very much admire the kinetic composures,
the striking, oracular self-possession of this book.
-- Robert Farnsworth