Raspberry Summers and the Brush of Thorns

Dodge Foundation Poets Edwin Romand and BJ Ward have praised Kerri Nicole McCaffrey's poetry. Now, Kerri has broken new ground with her fourth volume of poetry! Raspberry Summers and the Brush of Thorns contains deeply lyrical poetry played out in rural and wilderness settings. Kerri Nicole's stated purpose is to show the healing power of nature and to offer readers the chance to revisit their childhoods in order live a more joyous present. Her experience in finding God's reflection in the beauty of nature, however, is also inescapable. Kerri Nicole McCaffrey was educated by the monks of St. Meinrad, Indiana, and has carried their deep sense of contemplation and community into her own life. It is a practical spirituality that guides her words--an earthly mysticism. Kerri Nicole allows us to find Divinity reflected in nature, in our past experiences, and most importantly--in our interactions with others. Kerri Nicole McCaffrey has been compared by Dodge Foundation poet BJ Ward to both Mary Oliver and to Henry David Thoreau. While true, thematically and stylistically her poetry might also appeal to fans of Jane Kenyon, Wendell Berry, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. She is a poet of everyday experience, giving meaning to the mundane and echoing the music of mountains. Kerri Nicole McCaffrey's poetry is often set in ravishing places--wild rivers, deep balsam forests, and in the endless fields of spring. You will enjoy this volume immensely, and will come away changed. Raspberry Summers and the Brush of Thorns is not the verse of escape, but rather the poesies of facing life and finding beauty despite its challenges. It is the poetry of transcendence. Like all of us, Kerri Nicole McCaffrey has had tremendous challenges in her life, and as you will see--her poetry remains beautiful even in the midst of her darker days. Kerri Nicole believes that, "We should let our souls shine even more in the deepest reaches of our darkest days--this is true faith--a faith that, ironically, can light the way for others." "The Delaware at Sunset" (c) 2016, Kerri Nicole McCaffrey Gliding past Van Campen poplar breeze and sycamore- fields, various and purple: rich bergamot, loosestrife the violet colored clover- I am a child-newly minted- turning down a dirt road, fields open colorfully- an Amish clothesline in spring. Once again, I'm powered by Grape Crush pedal past long grass puddle and pool through bower of barberry -pray for absence of bear- and where thickets cease river wends. Soon I find suspension jade refreshment sunlight and riffles just me as far as eye can see. Later, some middle-age gents come by in canoes laughing-and for some reason flying a Jolly Roger on a mast-pole- kind pirates they see me swimming-wave, but do not board my peace, as fishermen appear kindle fire on rocky beach- watch me from Pennsylvania's shore. I observe them from a different state- I am 10 once more: grape soda, the bike ride an impromptu swim- men finding their boyhoods fishing flying the Jolly Roger- as Huck once did. The water swirls me gently around never really moving upstream or down- every river has such eddies each body, soul.
About the Author: Kerri Nicole McCaffrey was born in the small hamlet of Hawthorne, New York (the town which contains Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow). She has been teaching school for 23 years, and runs an active poetry club. She has two sons, and lives near the peaceful Lamington River in Chester, New Jersey.