“For over half a century, Irene Honeycutt has crafted stunning, cinematic poems with the wise, loving insight of the contemplative—and an eye, ear, and heart pitched precisely to the very soul of poetry. The appearance of a new collection by her is a signature, celebratory moment; and it should surprise no one that her latest volume, Mountains of the Moon, is her absolute finest to date. A virtuoso with narrative, the lyric and hybrid forms, Honeycutt’s range is incomparable and the risks she takes with language are often unimaginable, always transformative. The yield of Mountains of the Moon is so lustrous—“something / bright and unforeseen on the horizon”—that one is evangelized by its prismatic brilliance, the abundant, reckoning light.”

~Joseph Bathanti, North Carolina Poet Laureate 2012-2014

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“No one has been more essential to our literary community than Irene Honeycutt. As a teacher, she has devoted decades of mentorship and guidance to countless writers at every level, from tender novices to accomplished authors.

“That would be a stellar achievement on its own. But to speak only of Irene Honeycutt’s illustrious career inspiring others would be a terrible oversight, because her body of work as a poet is so very vital. It’s glorious, wise, and brave.

“I’ll let our other poets share more precise praise for the mastery Irene Honeycutt brings to the page. I’m here as her prior publisher, and a devoted reader, to trumpet my excitement about this outstanding new collection.

~Amy Rogers, Novello Festival Press, publisher of Waiting for the Trout to Speak

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“Mountains of the Moon is a poetic masterpiece woven from strands of the writer’s life. Readers are privileged to step into the river of time with Irene and will emerge with lessons about the fragility and beauty of nature and humanity. In the beginning, the poet moves through the enforced exile of the Pandemic, finding comfort and companionship in the natural world. The collection goes on to encompass the evolution of life, the treasures left after a death, the moments that never leave us and much more. A teacher at heart, Irene’s poetry shares the joy of poets singing their songs along with the importance of this kind of expression. She reveals how grief can transmute into a conscious letting go, embodying acceptance. Within the pages of Mountains of the Moon, readers will find awe, sorrow, humor, compassion, love and great wisdom.”

~Ann Campanella, author of What Flies Away and Motherhood: Lost and Found

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“In ‘A Song for the Hours,’ Irene Blair Honeycutt eulogizes the commonplace and the exalted: railroad spikes and a dead possum, John Donne and Typhoid Mary, a fragment of memory and a burst of birdsong. The message of the poem and the power of every poem in the collection resides in Song’s closing line: I am here. Irene fully inhabits the hours, the moments, and breathes them into poetry.

“To notice: superpower of poets, gift of the muse, or hard-won skill requiring grueling apprenticeship? Read Mountains of the Moon and you may discover clues. Irene gathers places she has known deeply, music and art that have touched her, friendships and griefs, and awakens them – she gives them new life. Perhaps the ‘noticing’ is equal parts paying attention to what is happening around you as well as to the warp and weft within that weave the fabric of your soul. Because Irene’s poems are taken from her true experience and inner truth, then freely, openly given to us, we readers may also be drawn into the noticing.

“A confession: I often tell myself I have nothing left to write. Then I spend an hour with a book like Mountains of the Moon and discover threads within myself that have been calling to untangle themselves into words. Reading poetry has power to jiggle the notice! synapses. And, as usual, the most profound thing one notices is that we humans share in common a wealth of pain and joy. A gift indeed.”

~Bill Griffin, Verse/Image

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“Irene Honeycutt’s latest poetry collection, Mountains of the Moon, offers something for every sensibility—and a number of surprises. The title does not do justice to the wide range of topics and perspectives contained therein. Many poems, like “Pandemic Guests” and “Praying Mantis on the Patio,” deal with nature, but it’s clear that Honeycutt feels a symbiotic connection to the world of plants, trees, and animals. That intimacy often provides a telling twist, as when the “pandemic guests” turn out to be “monarch / gecko / mantis.” One has to love that final confluence of words.

“I was impressed immediately that the book starts with imperative: “follow the dog outside. / Stay while.” This mode threads through Mountains of the Moon all the way to the end, when the speaker turns the commands inward and implores of “Rilke’s Darkest Angels,” “Wrap wings around me. Straighten my back.”

“Other poems about childhood and family lace through, including “Mama was clever” and several about the poet’s relations with her brothers. The tribute poems in Section II are impressive, especially “Remembering Linda Pastan,” whom Honeycutt knew personally and remembers fondly, and the deeply affecting “Legacy, 2020,” about Barry Lopez and the incalculable losses he experienced in the McKenzie fire.

“But the twin revelations for me were “Poetry Reading at an Indian Trail Café” and “Words.” The former deals with an impromptu poetry reading after a venue was unexpectedly closed and the gathered audience hold a tailgate open mic “in front of the cafe” and “nod in unison to rhythms of poems.” This piece conveys the insistent, human need to make and share lyric experience. “Words” describes a reading by Robert Hass in which pages of poems go literarily flying off the podium. By the end “the words that never were on those pages are listening at the windows.” I often dislike prose poems, but”Words” is stunning and these two poems will stay with me forever.”

~David Radavich, author of Here’s Plenty