The Comfort of Stone

Book excerpt: The Comfort of Stone is a collection of finely crafted free verse and lyrical poems that trace the author’s intimate recollections of her life experience and family history. The old stories told around the kitchen table become reality as personal journeys take Groundwater home to the historic landscapes of the Orkney Islands and the Scottish Highlands. Later, memories of a childhood immigration to Canada become touching and evocative poems set in “the new world.” As more pages of this amazing collection turn, Groundwater shares events in her life that readers may recognize as part of their own passages through adulthood and aging. This unique reading experience is woven together in a tapestry of images from the natural world which will at once delight and provoke thought and reflection.