Visiting the Oracle

After Deborah Keniston was hospitalized with an Alzheimer's-like disease, her husband, Edward Lueders, an author and English professor, discovered her poetry-filled journals while going through her papers. He knew she had been writing occasional poems, but had not realized the quantity or quality of her work. Thus began his own work transcribing and compiling this selection, which contains both Keniston's words and her artwork. Keniston passed away on January 3, 2013, having lived an active life as an artist, teacher, naturalist, explorer, and traveler. Her poems reflect her deep love of nature, her keen observer's eye, and her ability to evoke imagery and emotion through language. Because she wrote mainly for herself, her words are truthful and genuine, chosen without the need to impress. There are praise poems to be discovered here, as well as deep expressions of longing, loneliness, and the wish to be known and understood. In the words of Terry Tempest Williams, "Keniston's poetry is an open hand ...'a clearing away' of what no longer matters and a settling of what does, a gathering of hope lived through language."