Unbound

Gabrielle McIntire's poetry collection draws on mystical traditions, birdwatching, tree planting, ethics, neuropsychology and quantum physics. Its poems ask what it means to be a person within a natural world that still holds a sense of wonder.

The book considers human fragility, the timeless, and the ecological together, with a light and suggestive touch. McIntire attends closely, almost in the manner of devotion, to the creatures and landscapes of the earth. Love and grief appear throughout in turns that are both sorrowful and funny.

McIntire's verse depends on a strong sense of sound: chant-like rhythms, rhyme, playful wordplay, and words that carry more than one meaning. The poems encourage readers to meet the unexpected with courage and an open mind.

The collection invites readers to reconsider their own place in a world beginning to feel the effects of climate change, a world whose beauty and deeper order remain striking.