Somersault Path
Poems
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Snow Suit Angel
In this quiet winter snow
the ground connects to sky
with no difference
between here and there.
The world is grey
except for me
and I am out
stepping big, deep,
black on white
until I fall backwards
straight down into snow
and move my arms up, down,
up, down, up, down. Up. Down.
And in this perfect place
I am an angel
between ground and sky
and I can sense the difference
between here and there.
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About the Book
The poems in Somersault Path are reflective moments of childhood. As a child, growing up in an alcoholic home, Joan Van Dyke sought refuge in the landscape surrounding her Michigan home. A favorite oak tree still stands where she spent lofty hours in summertime perched high above flowered gardens and apple trees overlooking Lake Michigan not far from the woods where she kept company with a large neighborhood of crows. Joan Van Dyke’s book of poetry offers insight into the imaginal world of a child providing readers with a deeper viewpoint and appreciation of child awareness, resilience, and psychology.
About the Author
Joan Van Dyke began writing poetry in grade school in Ludington, Michigan. She received her BA and an MA in theatre arts from the University of Arizona. She performed as an artist-in-the-schools, in Tucson, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Michigan. Now retired, Somersault Path is her first published book of poems.