Siberia Creek is a fresh new poetry collection by Joanie Kay Firnstahl Koorn, which paints a beautifully vivid picture of the Washington landscape she calls home. Koorn’s poetry exists as a love letter to her family homestead, and reflects on the changes it has gone through over the years. The book features poems detailing heartbreak, childhood stories and quiet moments of solitary peace. The author’s deep connection with the trees, wildlife and earth is laid bare, and she asks readers to contemplate the effect that we have on the land, and the mark that the land leaves on us in turn.

I think that Siberia Creek is an absolutely stunning reading experience. The poems are interspersed with beautiful trail photography taken by the author, including some incredible shots of wild animals, and her writing so strongly reflects her love for the land. The poetry uses simple yet lovely imagery to conjure up the feeling of walking in the rain, wading in the creek, the changing of the seasons and the warm sanctuary of a log cabin. I felt as though I had received an invitation into someone’s home. I love how raw and personal this poetry is – Biochar and A Network of Mushrooms stood out to me as particularly strong entries. Koorn plays with various poetic techniques and styles, experimenting with clever wordplay, meter and rhyme. This is a very personal portrait of the author; Joanie Kay Firnstahl Koorn welcomes readers in to share in her thoughts, her spirituality, and the lessons the land has imparted to her.

Joanie Kay Firnstahl Koorn’s Siberia Creek is a poetry collection rooted in the Pacific Northwest land where her family lived after the Mattson homesteaders. On the wooded property near Arlington, Washington, Emil Mattson’s hand-built cabin still stands as a reminder of the farm’s earlier life. In The Lake In The Back, Koorn recalls a solitary girl with a backpack who feels completely understood beside a tree, finding the companionship in nature that will follow her into adulthood. In A Wild Love Letter, Koorn remembers a lake her grandfather built for her grandmother, an act of affection that helped give the family its home. As the poems move beyond childhood, the woods become a place where Koorn can be entirely herself. The collection considers what it means to belong somewhere that carries the memories of other lives.

Joanie Kay Firnstahl Koorn’s Siberia Creek is a beautiful poetry collection, written with such genuine affection for the natural world that you can almost hear the poet thinking aloud. Koorn writes in an intimate first-person voice, and her playful use of language gives even the shortest pieces a lovely musical quality. Rewritten is one of my favorites, with Koorn excelling at discovering new meaning inside familiar words. By pulling “rest” from “forest” and “Ern” from “fern,” she arrives at “Ernest Zen,” a wonderfully inventive expression of renewal. Be Bold is another favorite, where Koorn makes her grandmother’s final advice sound like a promise carried through generations. Her repeated “I will” gives the poem a stirring rhythm as she addresses those who came before her and the daughters who follow. Overall, this is a beautiful compilation and readers who appreciate expressive nature poetry will treasure it. Very highly recommended.