Caught Up in Her Place
inspired by her Valley home, poet embraces her surroundings
Nikki Lanzer, photos by Andrea Paulseth |
“Roses are red, violets are blue ... the most beauty is found in the world around you.”
One local wordsmith has just released her latest volume of poetry – a stocking-stuffer that will satisfy bookworms and nature enthusiasts alike.
In this full-length collection, Beyond Bulrush, Chippewa Falls author Jeannie Roberts invites readers to join her in gazing through the lens of a microscope positioned over her home’s natural surroundings.
“In this collection, I explore my world with lyric, eye, and ear.” Roberts explained. “I take the reader on a narrative journey of birth, death, and rebirth, drawing on both human and non-human stories as my framework.”
Each and every one of the collection’s 49 poems helps to paint an image of a Midwestern landscape of unparalleled beauty. As readers page through Beyond Bulrush, they will be given a taste of the local flora and fauna. Roberts sharply triggers familiar emotions through vivid detail, powerful words, and personal experience.
As readers sink into the pages of verse, they can anticipate encountering a combination of striking imagery, snappy rhyme, and powerful contrasts of emotion.
“My poems are lyrical, perceptive, and sometimes dark as I impart painful glimpses into my personal world,” Roberts explained. “Beyond Bulrush reflects on life with sound play, light, and shadow.”
Above all, Beyond Bulrush allows readers to enter a world of the carefully observed – a place near to the soul, momentarily frozen in time through Roberts’ vibrant words of reflection.
“My hope is that an overall sense of life’s texture and meaning is found,” Roberts said. “That humor and a sense of song and celebration is gleaned from this collection.”
But Roberts not only expects that each stanza will inspire the heart and stimulate the senses, but that it will also bring readers feelings of both nostalgia and familiarity through what she describes as her “Midwestern mix of work.”
“Beyond Bulrush contains poems about the area, including the Old Abe State Biking Trail near Jim Falls and observations around my own backyard near Chippewa Falls,” Roberts said. “There’s also reference to Pierce and Pepin Counties, including the Rush River, Lake Pepin, and the town of Stockholm as well as a poem about growing up in Minnesota.”
Roberts has authored several other works of poetry, including a poetry chapbook, Nature of it All, and a children’s piece titled Let’s Make Faces! In addition to her published works, the poet has earned several awards and distinctions, such as her first place in the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra’s statewide poetry contest in 2007 for her piece, “La Luz.”
Today Roberts is the self-employed owner, operator, and freelance artist of her creative services business JRCreative. She also works part time as a house manager for the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center and State Theatre. Outside of her career, the poet takes part in various public poetry readings and enjoys photography, drawing, and painting.
