hollin hills poet cliff bernier releases new collection, “wetlands”

Cliff Bernier, the Hollin Hills poet who published the well-received Ocean Suite last year, has returned this month with a new collection of poems titled Wetlands — and it’s another lyrical, acutely-observed winner.

Bernier (whose earlier work often evoked urban, jazzy rhythms and imagery) is now writing meditative, quieter works steeped in the natural world. In Wetlands, he travels to the landscape of the James River, and emerges with 27 almost luminous poems that seem to flow with the natural current of the river, sing with its life, and lead to deeper insights into the nature of being itself.

“On the surface, Wetlands contains a sequence of short poems,” writes fellow poet Luther Jett. “Beneath that surface, Wetlands contains a cosmos.”

Well worth a read, Wetlands is available from Broadstone Books.