Writing the Stars

Lou Ella Hickman's collection, writing the stars, touches on topics that matter. No foolishness or triviality here. These poems walk us into cancer and the Shoah. These poems consider wildfires, slashed cotton bales, and nuns who served as Civil War nurses. We encounter the flight into Egypt, forgiveness of torturers, even "a hag of a woman" beside her Kentucky moonshine machinery. Yet while these poems carry true human weight, their lean simplicity gives them a brightness, a beauty, even a kindness that walks beside the reader as we consider their truth. Sr. Lou Ella is a necessary voice, a poet we need. (Joseph Ross)