Vicky Daniels Bardell's "Angel's Land" instantly establishes a sense of character, history, and place, sweeping us into this world's intrigue and frigid beauty. The "frozen city" with its lanterns stretches all the way back to Chief Blackhawk who "disappears into the swamp." There's a sense of history here, of both time and timelessness.
Before long we meet the speaker's pain straight on. "Lake Koshkonong in January" is a world where "dreams drop from the murky sky like vodka." Here life itself swirls like liquid "down the drain." This is a treacherous landscape, where beer provides a backdrop for a burning bed. Even the lake that controls this landscape takes on monstrous proportions; it "devours daffodils," yet they "refuse to drown." And they are mourned not only by the season of spring with all its anticipation, but by squirrels and sandhill cranes. That's the power here; that in such turmoil, faith survives: it always glimmers at the landscape's edge. "Angel's Land" offers both literal and symbolic hope. A stranger arrives; this will be the one who "pulled you to high ground."
The techniques in this collection involve intricate form, narration interspersed with The Hail Mary, and artful gradations in point of view. This is the defense against "hurt": first the speaker's, then the partner's, and, finally, our own. The power emerges from complete candor-from not holding back and from the suggestion that darkness promises light before too much longer. That's the arc of this book: the classical movement from despair to rebirth. Bardell accomplishes this through opposites facing off: clarity versus cold, winter versus spring, but, mostly, chaos versus sobriety. "The cold clear vodka kept rising/until you drowned."
There's tragedy here, absolutely. But it is tragedy that yields catharsis. The water that destroys gives back new hope, new life. In the end this is the "Angel's Land," with all the faith that concept offers. Through sacrifice and restoration, all of us move along with the poet from "mourning" into "morning."
Laurel Yourke, U.W.-Madison, author of "Take Your Characters to Dinner" and "Waiting for Beethoven"
Finishing Line Press announces the publication of Angel's Land, a chapbook of poems by Vicky Daniels Bardell.
Local author Vicky Daniels Bardell has published her first book of poems. Angel's Land was chosen as a semi-finalist in the New Women's Voices Chapbook competition held by Finishing Line Press, and is now available.
A chapbook is 'a small book or pamphlet containing poems, ballads, stories or religious tracts.'
Set on Lake Koshkonong's North Shore, this chapbook is a collection of poems about life on the lake, along with the legacy of Chief Blackhawk, frequent flooding and an alcoholic husband.
"You always hear about how alcoholism destroys lives, Daniels Bardell says. "But you only hear about the 'train wreck' at the end, never about the inner struggle and turmoil that comes before, during and after the crash. That's my story."
"There's tragedy here, absolutely. But it is tragedy that yields catharsis. The water that destroys gives back new hope, new life. In the end this is the 'Angel's Land,' with all the faith that concept offers. Through sacrifice and restoration, all of us move along with the poet from "mourning" into "morning." -- Laurel Yourke, U.W. - Madison, author of "Take Your Characters to Dinner" and "Waiting for Beethoven"
Cover art features a black ink drawing by local artist Gwendolyn Cohn.This is a handmade, limited edition chapbook. The cost is $12.00, and is available from the publisher, and at the Velveteen Rabbit bookstore in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Autographed copies are available from the author at www.vickydanielsbardell.com.
To order, send you name and address, along with a check or money order for $12.00, plus $2.00 shipping to
Finishing Line Press P.O. Box 1626 Georgetown, KY 40324Or order online at:
Vicky Daniels Bardell has won several awards for poetry and non-fiction, including first prizes in the University of Wisconsin - Madison Writer's Institute Annual "Poem or a Page" contest. Her poetry has appeared in The Barefoot Grass Journal, Victory Scars, Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Sesquicentennial Poetry Quilt and other publications. Vicky is a member of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets.
Finishing Line Press is a poetry publisher based in Georgetown, Kentucky. In addition to the New Women's Voices Competition and Series, it publishes the Chapbook Series and sponsors the Finishing Line Press Open Chapbook Competition.