Seed to Bone Poems

By: Marian Willmott

Published by Marian Willmott, 2025-03-24

Seed to Bone by Marian Willmott is a collection of poetry reflecting on a life in its final decades. Time and memory laced with metaphor bring moments alive as the poems address family, aging, illness, intimacy, and a deep knowledge of the natural world. Metaphysical questions are interwoven with the natural world addressing the mystery we are a part of and deepening the encounter.

The book is a collection of contemplative poems written over the past twenty years, inspired by the solitude of the mountains in Vermont where the author lives and her time spent by the ocean in summers. Her writing is also informed by her experience as a visual artist, primarily a painter, a mother of three and a 60-year marriage.

The book is divided into four sections. The first, Time Moves, begins in childhood and focuses on various aspects of family over time. Hold Deep addresses pivotal experiences, including time in the natural world and experiences rooted in such things as music and dreams. In a Minor Key addresses illness and loss. The last section, Echo of Myself, addresses aging and metaphysical questions.

The poem River Rushes explains, "I write to listen, to feel its power in my bones, to feel what I cannot know."