"Fire on a Circle" is a book of poems that feels vibrantly alive. It explores Runic themes and is enriched by Norse mythology. The language is rich and alluring, and each poem sings with its own musical rhythm. Kim Ward explores themes of love, loss, heredity, ecology, and divinity. It is told in a triptych; one that works quite well, each part mirroring the others. ( )

I have always been fond of poetry; I’ve dibbled and dabbled a bit with writing poetry once as a hobby. Reading this poetry book “Fire on a Circle” by Kim Ward, I have a different perspective about poetry. Writing poems takes creativity, passion, and skills. In my opinion, Kim Ward did an amazing job on expressing her ability as a poet. It’s important to read and appreciate how poets express themselves through words. The way Kim Ward writes is impeccable, I was so intrigued with all of the poems within this book. There were three poems that stood out to me the most.

The Way We See the World
The way we see the world crumbles.
Into new country
The moment we dance outside of the circle.

The way you move entices me out,
Leaves me dreaming.
We are lovers.

Do you know the desert inside of me?

In my opinion this poem expresses battling into a precious relationship of the unknown.

Spring Fish
The fishermen’s flames are bells.
In the water. In crackle and
Spark, fire punctuates the silence.
The fish swim into the glint
Of hooks and steel, drift up.
Toward the torches.

The deep caverns return the call.
Through the wet fence of the river.
The rhythm resonates. It strikes.
The air, unfurling a helix that.
Climbs the wind and
Heads it
The sky.

In this poem it seems as though it is something intertwining into the universe as two people. This poem also has a lot of twists and turns with the five passages of the poem. I really enjoyed this poem, so abstract within itself.
Angel In the Fire
I am the girl you brought through the fire.
I am the singing angel in the furnace,
The voice of the hunting owl as she kills her prey.

In the beginning, I was the silent face,
All questing eyes and limbs,
My early body ready
To fling this world off.

You are Mother of mothers,
Voice of the ages,
Soothsayer to the aged.
Your life stretches.
To the taught place
of crones become infants
and my daughter become keeper.

In this poem it seems as though this is about Mother and a daughter. The daughter has left the home and spread her wings to womanhood. Sad and moody. Love this poem the best.

I would like to thank Samantha Kolber from Rootstock publishing for giving me the opportunity to review Fire on a Circle.

Last, but not least to Kim Ward God bless, keep creating you have a lot to give to us readers. Look forward to reading more from you.

The forty-nine poems fill this collection with visceral imagery both personal, mythic, and naturalistic. Contained in three distinct sections – “Pursuit,” “Green Mountains,” and “Fire” – Ward, a Vermontese, offers writing that spans a life in the present, then segues into using Germanic rune symbolism to elicit a melding of a more ancient narrative with her poetic and empathic writing, and finally returning to the personal experience set in her own backyard. She adapts her language, sometimes esoteric, others sparse, to the setting created. In “People Beneath the Cathedrals,” her prosaic paragraphs in the beginning offer the viewpoint of the dead through the ages, and then transitions to that of the more recent dead.” It is an archeological poem and nothing short of brilliant. “Harvest Time” with the killing of the hogs the haiku-like stanza is all the is needed for the reader to feel the impact of these words.
For readers who love to ponder the written word, one page at a time or one stanza at a time, this is highly recommended. ( )