Where the Deer Were

by Kate Barnes, Mary Azarian (Illustrator)

Story-poems of friendship and wonder, loneliness and endurance, sexuality and unrequited longing, familial ties and the overriding relationship of the individual to nature, to landscape and animals, and the living earth.

Kate Barnes wrote wise and moving verse as Robert Creeley said, “of a deep and heartfelt clarity.” She lived and wrote on a farm in Appleton, Maine and was the state’s first Poet Laureate. These are poems that celebrate the ingredients of our humanity in poetry narratives that will stay with you through every season.

Genres: Poetry

84 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 1994

Reviews

[Hannah]

An absolutely gorgeous collection. Never having read Barnes, I didn't know what to expect, but what I found were well-wrought, well-paced poems that stayed fresh and new on every page. She balances observations of the natural world with an internal, emotional focus with perfect poise. Surely and underrated poet.

[Laura]

Lyrical poems about farm life in Maine. So many of the poems feature an awareness of light and dark; so appropriate for this time of Winter Solstice.

[Janet Morgan]

This book of poetry is a keeper for lovers of the genre. This award winning Maine author came by her talent, perhaps through her celebrated parents.
Her father, Henry Beston, was a famous New England naturalist author. And who hasn't heard of Newberry Medal winning Elizabeth Coatsworth?
Maine's first poet laureate, Barnes celebrates love and life in her much-beloved poems. Kate's publisher added another layer to this fascinating book with woodcuts by Mary Azarian, a Caldecott Medalist.