Critical Commentary
In Melissa Huff’s stunning collection, To Speak to Each Day in its Own Language, she creates “garlands of meaning” with beautiful imagery and a deep reverence for nature. Huff reminds us that nature holds and supports us at every turn, “my senses know that tomorrow a bevy / of birds will sing the sun into the sky,” and has the power to heal and transform, “nature’s patterns / will fill our pores / white light / will spill color at our feet.” This inspiring, insightful collection offers up a source of great comfort and hope, “I / will lift my face to the horizon and—grateful to have had / this voyage—take to the sky with salt-studded wings.”
—Cristina M. R. Norcross, Founding Editor of Blue Heron Review; author of The Poetry Apothecary and other titles
Melissa Huff’s poetry celebrates every subtle glory of the natural world – trees, flowers, water, light, humanity. Some poems whisper an earnest attempt at finding peace in sacred spaces, some contemplate life’s miracles, nearly all paint beautiful tableaus where we can pause and reflect with the poet about the importance of awareness. Many poems make effective use of line breaks and white space, allowing us to pause and breathe as our eyes move down the page. This is a masterful collection of poetry as meditation.
—Kate Hutchinson, Editor-in-Chief of East on Central: A Journal of Arts and Letters; author of A Matter of Dark Matter (Kelsay Books) and Map Making: Poems of Land and Identity (THEAQ Press)
Moving toward delight in the natural world is crucial in these poems. In “Spring Is a Strong Verb,” there is no gentleness, but “fierce energy” that defies gravity. “Fern Room, Lincoln Park Conservatory” ends with something deeply physical: “and deep within one’s core / the pull of the earth pulses.” In “Aubade,” the poet [Huff] watches her spirit rise “on this day’s updraft.” In “Belonging,” she asks, “How can I learn to listen to this land?” By the poet’s stillness and receptivity. Attention and attunement. Awareness and awe.
—Veronica Patterson, Loveland, Colorado’s First Poet Laureate, and author of Swan, What Shores? (NYU Press), Thresh & Hold (Gell Prize), and other titles.
