Dancing Mockingbird

In Dancing Mockingbird, Steven Davison conveys a vision of nature that is at once scientifically grounded and deeply personal. The poems of human love enfolded into his vivid responses to birds and trees, rivers and sand, reflect the sensory richness of the volume as a whole. Another special strength of his collection is Davison's ability to ground his intensely lyrical poems in the firm, spoken cadences of an authentic voice. This is a book to which I will return with pleasure.

-Robert Pack, author of Reading the Mountains of Home and Imagining the Earth



Steven Davison's Dancing Mockingbird is written by a poet who possesses a deep sense of spirituality. It is this spirituality, and a love for the natural world that give Davison his sense of place and meaning. Mockingbird is a canticle to nature and the ways it touches us. The poems are apocalyptic: "Oaks crash. Dunes drown, the shoreline reaches inland, flooding the decade's inner courts. Volcanoes belch. The planet's mantle quakes and splits. Cities meet their makers." The poems are intimate: "In sleep as deep as shadows of mountains are my dreams of you." Throughout, there is a beauty of language and imagery that made this collection a great pleasure to read.

-John David Muth, author of Misanthropes Rarely Procreate



There is candor here, and a close sensitivity to the wonders of our world-and hints of a world beyond that we do not know. The poems are sensual, and emit a willingness to share with us Steven's deep connections to our inter-connected beingness.

-Judith McNally, author of Chopping without Chopping (micro-dialogues)