Since 2021, Dr. Guertin and Betsy Wilkening have been masterfully blending fiber art with critical scientific topics like global warming, climate change, and environmental threats, all while offering potential solutions. In 2024, Dr. Decker proposed an innovative expansion: a multimodal ekphrastic project that pairs powerful poetry with evocative art.

 

This book is the stunning result. You'll find a diverse array of artwork—from exquisite fiber art quilts to compelling drawings, paintings, and even museum pieces—each carefully selected to illuminate the theme of "making the unseen, seen" and to forge a powerful connection between science and art through the medium of poetry.

 

We strongly encourage you to delve into the Artist/Scientist Statements at the back of the book. These illuminating insights provide brief, accessible explanations that enhance the thoughtful poems, making complex scientific topics relatable and engaging for everyone.

 

It has been a true joy to bring this project to life. We hope you'll return to these pages again and again, discovering new layers of meaning with each reading.

 

Contributors to this book include: Donald Beagle, Emily Bilman, Joyce Brinkman, Sarah-Beth Bradley, Megan Brown, Emma M. Burkett, Samantha Carr, Joan Ellen Casey, Loralee Clark, Tricia Coulson, Marcela Bianchessi da Cunha-Santino, Dr. Kathleen P. Decker, Zoey Dudding, Jae Dyche, Christie King Eckardt , Kerry Faraone, Catalina Florina Florescu, Anna Isabella Fratarcangelo, Chapman Hood Frazier, Dennis Owen Frohlich, Gail Giewont, Dr. Michale Glennon, Marjorie Gowdy, Jody Gruendel, Dr. Laura Guertin, Cathy Hailey, Lauren Haygood, Kate Hedstrom, Wayne David Hubbard, Mark Hudson, Piper Jameson, Robert J. Keeler, Dr. Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Barbara Martina Linde, Sally Harcum Maxwell, Greg McNamara, Susan Copley Novack, Holly Panzera, Sarah Parker, Tessa Peixoto, Suzanne Underwood Rhodes, Lynne Schreiber, Mattie Quesenberry Smith, Ron Smith, Alica Swain, Johannes Vermeer, Betsy Wilkening, Diana Woodcock, Nicole Zwolinski.

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A life of service is a life well and greatly lived. ― Omoakhuana Anthonia
 
Having begun my writing career in my mid-sixties, I never ran short of life experiences to write about. Where younger writers face the dreaded “writer’s block,” the advice “Write about what you know,” is often marginally helpful. It has worked for me. I have built this book around things I have done, ideas I have had, and emotions I felt strongly about. It contains some of my favorite poems written in my first twenty years of writing as well as many relatively new unpublished works. The latter category includes responses to the devastating impact of losing my loving partner of more than sixty-three blessed years of marriage. Those wounds are indeed deep and lasting. My years in the Emerson Society of Williamsburg produced numerous essays on a variety of topics. Several were written from research conducted on U.S. Navy history - a favorite topic of mine. Others included leadership training, risky childhood experiences, golfing exploits, and English language peculiarities. However, Part 4 of the book contains six essays detailing actual experiences I had as a Navy officer. I needed no notes to write these essays; the events are still permanently etched in my mind - fifty years later.One advantage of taking up writing as a third career is that I fully intended to remain active and productive in retirement and I enjoy writing. So now, with the freedom to do so, I could put to use my leadership and management skills gained through 20 years as a Navy officer followed by 20 years of executive positions in business. has contributed immeasurably to the joys and fulfillment of my retirement goals.I have known and worked with wonderful people throughout my life; I have love for all and ill will toward none. I am truly blessed.