Evanescence of Spring

Irritate an oyster and you get a pearl. Irritate a poet—and there have been a lot of irritations—and you get a poem—sometimes, a pearl. And I’m here to say I really like Nancy Dillingham’s new string of pearls—pearls scattered on a mirror, beauty and pain reflected, magnified; alternately light and dark, intensified.

Reading Dillingham’s poems, I felt like I was in a house of mirrors, one poem reflecting another—a Proustian moment.

—Parks Lanier, Appalachian Georgics and Collected Poems

Evanescence of Spring is an enjoyable and entertaining read. The poems are topical and passionate, filled with sharp energy. I especially like “In Search of Lost Time,” a poignant poem that triggers the imagination and lingers in the mind. It’s a beauty. Dillingham’s energy is ever-present in this collection—one that will touch readers on many different levels.

—Julia Nunnally Duncan, author of A Neighborhood Changes

I especially like the wry humor, which keeps the spring coming.

—Shelby Stephenson, North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2015–2018