The Crow Gods by Sarah Connor (Sidhe Press 2023)

Sarah Connor’s long-anticipated chapbook (long-anticipated by many, including me), The Crow Gods is everything I hoped for–and more. It is carefully crafted and self-assured, the work of a poet who knows what she wants to say. Connor’s work is sensory, both melodious and stark—a balancing act on a tightrope crossing joyful meadows to stormy seas and back.

The title poem, “The Crow Gods,” hits like a crow flying right into your gut. It is a recitation that is all the more powerful for its calm recitation.

But there are poems of children, love, and love of place.

There are ghosts and spring sunlight that

Throughout, there are rooks, hares, goldfinches, and the sea. There is wisdom in this book. There is courage. There is love—so much love. The poems here fly, swim, gallop, and drive through the English countryside, traveling through…