Names We've Never Known: Poems (Volume 3) (21st Century Poets)

"This is one of my favorite collections of poetry so far—poetry pulled from the heart; poetry of life and love; a rebirth of spirit, of all the magic in life we thought we had lost along the way. This is a discovery of the beauty that lays in wait all around us—in every moment, in every being, in every living thing. This is poetry to open us back up; to give us permission to feel again; emotions deep and real and tangible, whether we name them or not."
—Karla K. Morton
2010 Texas Poet Laureate


"We should have been prepared for this level of lyrical quality—just based on her Beastie book. But there’s no way we could have anticipated this level of passion, wisdom, and sensitivity. There is a subtext that runs through Karla’s work, an in-the-moment hunger, a realization that yes, all life is fleeting—but look how glorious and rich it can be. She knows how to name things, how to give the most common of items a special magic and meaning. Read the poem 'Charmer'. The images are all images we know and understand but in Karla’s hands they are transformed into something deeper, they turn into images that transcend the moment. That is what good poetry is supposed to do. And Karla’s poems do it—again and again and again."
—Alan Birkelbach
2005 Texas State Poet Laureate

KARLA K. MORTON, the 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, is a graduate of Texas A&M University and a Board Member of the Greater Denton Arts Council.  A Betsy Colquitt Award Winner and North Texas Books Awards Finalist, she has been widely published in literary journals, and is the author of Wee Cowrin’ Timorous Beastie (a 17th Century Scottish Epic book/CD), Redefining Beauty (Dos Gatos Press), and Becoming Superman (Rogers Publishing/Wheeler Press).  Her upcoming books include Stirring Goldfish (a Sufi poetry book by Finishing Line Press), and the TCU Texas Poets Laureate Series (TCU Press).  A native Texan, she has trekked hundreds of miles in her Little Town, Texas Tour, bringing poetry and the arts into schools and communities across her beloved state.