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"In Stumbling Toward the Altar, we the readers are with the poet as he negotiates love, life, and this historical time on the planet. As we read, we get a deep sense of his heart and awe as he finds joy in chickens, angora rabbits, a “blizzard of a dog,” the natural world of evergreens and goldenrod, his significant other, and “a thousand stars reflected in the lake.” These are well crafted poems full of light, struggle, growth, and presence."

-Susan Vespoli, author of Blame it on the Serpent, Cactus as Bad Boy, and One of Them Was Mine.

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"Stumbling Toward the Altar is a poignant and raw portrait of life’s hardest challenges juxtaposed—and contemplated—in a breathtaking natural landscape.  The vivid images of the lake, the farm, the garden, and the forest constantly bring the author, and the reader, back to the simplicity that the natural world has to offer.   No matter how complex the problem, or how deep the despair, the altar of nature guides this search for meaning and answers in a complicated world."

 

-John Johnson, author of Chalk Dust Memories and In the Mind of the Anxious Traveler.

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"Stumbling Toward the Altar is a delightful book of poems. The natural world is alive and present in this collection, threading through poems of love, grief, hardship, and joy. From the delight of chickens to the complexity of human relationships, these poems express a deep longing for and a welcome belonging to the land, to each other, to life itself. "

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-Amy Smith, author of Composting the Moon