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Inner Sunset
About the Author
Heather Saunders Estes grew up in a small New England town and now lives in the Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco. The blue jays look different, but crows are the same. Fog has replaced winter snow. She transitioned to poetry in 2017 from her long-term career as CEO of Planned Parenthood Northern California. Her writing is inspired by experiences as a social worker and activist, as well as early studies in ceramics and elementary art teaching. Poetry is laughter, reflection, appreciation, and a call to action. She lives with her professor-writer husband of 45 years, and their biologist-writer daughter lives nearby. Inner Sunset is her debut book of poetry.
This book is full of lyricism, animist and mystical often, about the natural world of ocean, trees, fog, birds, insects, and yet, surprisingly and vividly anchored in the city, the house, through windows, walks and wide open eyes. It rewards reading and rereading, as its full context enriches and widens.
Book Details
- Publisher: Blue Light Press
- Publish Date: May 11st, 2019
- Pages: 98
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 9.00in - 6.00in - 0.23in - 0.34lb
- EAN: 9781421836300
- Categories: • Women Authors• American - General
Praise for this book
"With exquisite details and simple, elegant language, Heather Saunders Estes invites us to wander into her garden, follow her through "unseen patches of wildness in the city... where raccoons waddle their bulk... parrots swirl on vectors..." and journey to woods, waters, and memories of her past. She touches us with her quiet passion and deep regard for the beauty and terror of nature.
-- Elinor Gale, Poet, Author of the novel, The Emancipation of Emily Rosenbloom.
"As natural historian, writing of contemporary life in San Francisco, Estes appreciates the "seal heads of surfers," and the cedar waxwings in their "speed skater helmets." City-dweller, she also knows the public park and the highway barrier, where someone spray-painted the word "RESIST." Techno-savvy, she admits, "I give my credit card to the waiter/ knowing we have all been hacked." In her neighborhood --"They tore down and trucked away the pieces/ of the little 1950 stucco house"-- Estes confronts tumultuous transformations. I admire the wisdom in "What they do now can never be undone," even as the speaker finds comfort in "plover hieroglyphs."
-- Robin Becker, Author of The Black Bear Inside Me
"Gently, in soothing sotto voce, Heather introduces us to the hidden realms and private universe in our world of San Francisco. In her debut collection of poems, we meet the denizens of the physical world we share -- the well-fed raccoons and acrobatic squirrels, smiling at the artful way they walk their wilderness in the streets and backyards of the city. In "Sea Change," her poetry becomes a triptych of San Francisco: "... from our hill house, we see the glint of white breakers between elderly Monterey pines bent in Pacific winds..." Looking out to the horizon, "On windy days when the fog lifts, the far west horizon ... shows profile waves of cardiac rhythm." In "Ice Wave," every image of the frigid tundra comes to life: "Beneath me, under stretches of bare ice... Seals, narwhals, jellyfish, almost invisible in the light." And then, without warning, the ice fantasies explode: "At my feet, a carved ivory bear amid bear-sized rocks and magenta wild flowers."
-- Elsa Fernandez, Poet, Author of nature poems, including
"Bob, the Headless Chicken"