Things to Say When You Have Nothing to Say

Things to Say When You Have Nothing to Say is a book of poems about the moments when you don’t quite know what to say, but you feel everything. The poems move through the ordinary—love, parenting, grief—paying close attention to the details of everyday life, finding their weight, and naming the liminal spaces. Kerry Trautman is a skillful, attentive poet with a wry sense of humor. Things to Say When You Have Nothing to Say doesn't rush to tied-up conclusions. It lingers where things are unfinished, tending to what remains.

"Kerry Trautman is a force of nature. The poems in this double-album of a volume are parts fearless, insightful, yearning, and sensitive. The breadth and depth of her work continues to be awe-inspiring. I’d like to give you a rundown of what this book is about, but quite honestly, this book is about everything, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Despite what the title claims, Kerry has something important to say. Sit down with a drink in hand, and delve into Kerry’s expansive world. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did."—Danny Shot, author of The Jersey Slide, Night Bird Flying and others

“The opening line of Kerry Trautman’s Things to Say When You Have Nothing to Say reminds us of an important truth—“Life gifts us with versions of ourselves.” Kerry may not “want to read the poems” she writes, but we do. Especially now, in chaotic and scary times, these poems invite reflection and remembrance, calling us back to “things to believe in.” —Dustin Brookshire, author of Repeat As Needed

“From the beguiling origins of poems to the mysteries of rootedness, Kerry Trautman’s poems range across the vast peaks and valleys of life. They move effortlessly from the seemingly mundane to the revelatory. Her voice is sensuous, fully alive to the physical world human bodies inhabit and the joys and disappointments of that world, like the grocery store tomato that “refuses to taste like July.” And when the poet muses that “by the time we see a star’s light, it has likely been dead for years,” the delighted reader knows; not this star, not her light.” —Milenko (Miles) Budimir, author of Nowhere to Go but Everywhere: Travel Poems and others

Kerry Trautman is a lifelong Ohioan whose work has appeared in numerous international anthologies and literary journals. She has served as judge or workshop leader for the Northwest region of Ohio’s “Poetry Out Loud” competition annually since 2016. In 2024, her one-act play “Mass” received a staged reading as a winner of The Toledo Repertoire Theater’s “Toledo Voices” competition. Her books are Things That Come in Boxes (King Craft Press 2012,) To Have Hoped (Finishing Line Press 2015,) Artifacts (NightBallet Press 2017,) To be Nonchalantly Alive (Kelsay Books 2020,) Marilyn: Self-Portrait, Oil on Canvas (Gutter Snob Books 2022,) Unknowable Things (Roadside Press 2022,) and Irregulars (Stanchion Books 2023.)