When I got my copy of Sandy Raschke's "Prevailing Winds" I found that it was called "A Collection of Country and Nature Poems."
        It isn't a collection. It is, rather, a journey. We follow Sandy through a life-scene, from the homey "Canning the Night Away" in the prairie kitchen to the love song, "Silver Anniversary," a life in which she hunts, walks, just sits and ponders the kaleidoscope of Nature's disorder and magic. It celebrates the farm wife in her domain. It enjoys the land in its cruel perfection. It witnesses the tugging tragedy that befalls the weak, "Life and Death lie side by side, that's Nature's way. . ."
        If you've walked those ways Sandy describes, or just visited them vicariously, her journey is a joy to read and a challenge to the humdrum.
        Best of all, Sandy does know how to make a poem. Rhymes, rhythms, voices. It's a choir and the land is its Temple.

Prevailing Winds . . . . A Collection Of Country & Nature Poems by Sandy Raschke (Central Oregon Press, Prineville, OR, 2010). 5-1/2" x 8-1/2". No ISBN. 11 pages, staple-bound.  $5.00. Contact the author at sreditor@clearwire.net.
     
        A first collection from the fiction editor of Calliope: A Writer’s Workshop by Mail, Prevailing Winds’ ten poems each uses the word “wind” in some form––breeze, Santa Anas, windbreak.
        She writes about dove hunting, thistles, her foremothers, finding a nest in the field they are to plant, and canning. Though the title gives no clue, Sandy’s last poem, “Silver Anniversary” is an exquisite love poem to her husband (also the book’s dedicatee and photographer).
        Many of Sandy’s poems are rhymed. But “Star Thistle” is a perfect example of free verse. I am impressed with her use of alliteration and assonance (see last line of poem below) and imagery.
        Here is one of her poems,
  
            Daybreak at Rio Vista
  
            Past dying moon,
            in lifting grays, the marsh hawk swoops
            through burnished fields;
            and meadowlarks and blackbirds
            sing in roundelays
            diffused upon the wind.
    
            Shaken now by tractors roar,
            the earth awakens into Summer’s
            sweet orange Jello light,
            shrugs, then casts away
            the gentle gauze of dawn
   
        If you are a friend of Calliope, and love poetry, you will want this collection.