Dark Oak Bindery

Participating in arts brings potential for ekphrasis, inspiration. In that spirit, Christine Darragh of Dark Oak Bindery in Ann Arbor, MI, designed a hand-made copy of my chapbook, courtesy of Structo and as nuanced as a sunny riverbed after a rain, complete with pools of navy, edged in maroon and chartreuse--a color of winter, a color of spring. The design reminds me of fruit stains on a paper bag or those rainbows left by evaporated puddles, though the book is worthy enough to be a beauty unto itself.

In her desirously purposeful "spare" time, Darragh also hand-lettered some quotations from Flowers Around Your Soft Throat. I am particularly thrilled that these pieces show the quiet moments of connection between two art forms, the threads of one solitude reaching another. Darragh's captions, quoted below and on her Instagram, echo this sentiment. In a world of rushed interaction and surface-level information, I am so happy that poetry brings me this kind of richness. I can only say, "thank you."

"One of my favorite parts of bookbinding is coming into contact with others' writing. Words melt me with their beauty, and this chapbook is no exception."

"Reading through a chapbook which I will be binding into hardcover. And dying a little over these words: 'Beauty is only a side effect of loss.'"

"Waiting out the rain, and watching a fitful lake." (My favorite.)