Roots in Water

As the seasons turn

one to the next, so we travel

from East to West.

We rise and flow with the years ...

from "Ceremony"

"To read Johnson's poems is to look into the heart and soul of a poet who celebrates each quiet moment of a well-lived life. Like Mary Oliver, her job is clearly to 'pay attention.' Drawing on 12 previous collections and introducing 15 new poems, Johnson stays closely attuned to the nuances of personal relationships and the wonders of the natural world. Deeply moving, humorous, provocative, and achingly honest, Johnson's poetry reminds us that remembering lies at the core of who we are. I will enter these poems again and again with a sense of camaraderie and belonging." --Ellen Lord, author of Relative Sanity

"In reading this fine poet, I find Johnson making use of ideas, images, and tones across the whole spectrum that echo 'academic' poetry from Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell to Mary Oliver. Her poems are full of dabs of color worthy of the French Impressionists." --Mack Hassler, U.P. Book Review

"To read Johnson's poems is to look into the heart and soul of a poet who celebrates each quiet moment of a well-lived life. Like Mary Oliver, her job is clearly to 'pay attention.' Drawing on 12 previous collections and introducing 15 new poems, Johnson stays closely attuned to the nuances of personal relationships and the wonders of the natural world. Deeply moving, humorous, provocative, and achingly honest, Johnson's poetry reminds us that remembering lies at the core of who we are. I will enter these poems again and again with a sense of camaraderie and belonging." --Ellen Lord, author of Relative Sanity "In reading this fine poet, I find Johnson making use of ideas, images, and tones across the whole spectrum that echo 'academic' poetry from Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell to Mary Oliver. Her poems are full of dabs of color worthy of the French Impressionists." --Mack Hassler, U.P. Book Review

Kathleen Carlton Johnson came from a military family and lived in various places. She received her education in Virginia at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg and furthered her education at Villanova University and the University of Virginia. She has taught and ran libraries, but books and poetry have always been a part of her. The poems selected for this book span some 50 or so years. She has produced some 16 chapbooks. Since she's also a visual artist, poetry and painting complement each other. She is currently a Chaplain in Hospice, which has been a gift not only to her soul but to her art. Her work and visual art have appeared in Rattle, MacGuffin, The Diner, and Barely South. She has also been published in The Origami Poems Project, Nassau Review, William and Mary Review, and most recently, 3rd Wednesday, U.P. Reader, and Yooper Poetry.She lives six miles from Calumet/Laurium, where she was born. With her family now grown, she is entwined with grandchildren and the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan at her doorstep.

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