The River that Moves Out of Darkness, Poems by Irene D. Hays

Irene D. Hays, in this first, full-length collection of her poems, invites readers to join her in experiencing the river as a powerful source for teaching and writing. She has published two poetry chapbooks, numerous poems in journals, anthologies and other media. Over time, a gestalt formed where bits and pieces of intellect and beauty combined with her heartfelt recollection of Nature's surprising presence.

Sample Poems by Irene Hays

Hays' poetry may represent a third culture, on speaking terms with sense and spirit alike. Her poems reveal in part what philosopher Teilhard de Chardin may have meant when he said "Co-extensive to their Without, there is a Within to things." With the heart of a poet and the eye of a scientist, she shares through her poems the essence and meaning of her enduring love affair with words and with Nature.

Hays began her career as a teacher of language and literature in Idaho, Hawaii, Colorado, Washington State and California where she lived and worked as a writer, teacher, manager and director of school-based and workplace science education programs. She has observed first-hand the beauty, joy, drama, care, love, and passion of science--which she names the "hidden humanity."

"It's rare that a book's title so perfectly conveys its contents, but The River that Moves out of Darkness is absolutely right for this impressive new collection by Irene Hays. Like the moth that flies out of her purse, in the 'The Dark Side,' Hays is 'tipsy with light.' Her connection to the natural world is vivid, imperative, brilliant, and her rendering of family is 'awake and unblinking.' In poem after poem, Hays surprises and delights, then surprises and delights again. 'I am made from Earth's roundness,' she writes in 'Hanging by My Knees from a Tree Limb.' I am made from that numinous world / seen from the corner of my eye.' She's too modest here: Irene Hays sees everything fully and clearly. Enter the pages of this book, and you will, too."--David Starkey

"Irene Hays' poems are fine and deep. In the unsettled waters of the world, they bring currents of renewal transcendence: How to stay unstuck, right side up when chasms grow and memories retreat, to catch ourselves when we reach an edge. Hays' poetry illuminates abiding, a universal truth of human life. Her words challenge us to open our hearts and flow through the darkness into the inevitable light."--Georganne O'Connor

ISBN-13: 978-1625490933, 92 pages, $18

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