Big Sky Falling

In her first book, Kelsey Andrews moves from the big skies of Grande Prairie, Alberta and her family home, to the smaller skies hemmed in by mountains and skyscrapers of Vancouver. As she tries to adjust from a thirsty countryside filled with little wonders, to a lush cityscape with fewer miracles, the sky falls in as depression comes on. The weight of loneliness and past secrets that remain unsayable are a driving force, yet these poems fill the lonely places for the reader. She finds a way to befriend rather than beat depression with the help of a natural world populated by winged things, animals, trees, water, and sky. Her poems contain earthy whimsy and playfulness, though they are not without gristle and little violences — the moon’ s ancient bruises, gargoyles that shriek and moan, and the thunk when you split a chicken. Themes of girl blending with nature, bodies the right (and wrong) shape, looking for new family through new relationships, and the question of what is wildness are explored. From snails to suicide and picking blackberries to killing flies, through it all, Kelsey finds beauty and the light that persists.