Change was in the air. It was palpable, a strong presence in the room. (chapter three, p51) - Linda Hogan

First books, for many people, seem to be sort of autobiographical incursions into who they are, and what it means to be who they are.

Love, Lettie thought, it hurts and gladdens us no matter what a woman's age. (p177)

For American Indian people the journey home is what tells us our human history, the mystery of our lives here, and leads us toward fullness and strength. These first poems were part of that return for me, an identification with my tribe and the Oklahoma earth, a deep knowing and telling how I was formed of these two powers called ancestors and clay.