Poetry

Words are, perhaps, what distinguish us from the rest of the kingdom of the living. I see words as my connection, a link from me to the outside world. I started writing poetry many years ago, when I felt bogged down in my journals by so many words.

I was stunned by how important the words became when they sat in the middle of the page with space all around them. Ever since then, I have been intrigued by compression – the power of white space and silence, and how to say the most with the least.

In my poetry I write to explore, to learn why something has caught my eye or touched me; to share, savor, connect. I love how unpredictable a poem can be when it takes the bit in its teeth and runs wild. And I am surprised.

I have three books of poetry published:

• Roots and Wings
• Fine Lines
• An Episode of Buttons

Comments include:
“These are straightforward, elegant and crafted lyrics about traditional subjects: love, changes and loss… The artistic values at work… result in a spare, direct and concrete style… always with a twist, to be sure.”
—What’s On, London Entertainment Magazine

“The finely crafted poems of Carol Burnes exist to be savored; they exist to be performed; and perhaps most importantly, they exist to be experienced.”
—The Concord Bulletin

In “exquisite reflections about loss, renewal, love, and resentment…she sews together astounding writing and empathetic themes without ever once showing a seam.”
—Stuff Magazine, Boston

“Carol Burnes makes people laugh, she makes them cry and she stirs them to take a fresh look at the world around them.”
—Dillons Bookstore, Kensington London

“Several poems reach for the outrageous…others tickle the ribs with a switchblade.”
—The Concord Patriot