“These are poems of wisdom and longing that are rooted and winged in humility, and what is discovered in difficulty. Lisa Salinas successfully ties together nature, ekphrasis, family history, American history and world history… A small leaf of great beauty is tossed between its themes in a wind of metaphor and vivid words connecting the collection in a spine of strength… She has known the storm, yes, but emerges from the wreckage with the hope of the smallest leaf that has clung to the hurricane branch — and survived.”
So writes Annabelle Moseley about Smallest Leaf, Lisa’s first collection of poetry and winner of the Eakin Memorial Book Publication Award given by the Poetry Society of Texas.
According to contest judge Larry Hand:
“Smallest Leaf contains some of the most beautiful language I’ve ever read. Each page offers a grand experience appealing to both mind and spirit.”
Lisa’s search for her roots figures prominently in her work. These poems are brimming with stories of ancestors, weaving together both family and personal history. Alongside these subjects, she shares stories of regional and world events, nature, faith, and the life she leads as poet.
Smallest Leaf, according to previous Eakin winner Budd Powell Mahan, “is the most poetically diverse of all the winners of the Eakin Award.”
It features varied forms such as the villanelle, terzanelle, gloss, pantoum, haibun, and the new mirror sonnet form (popularized by Annabelle Moseley), in addition to more traditional favorites such as rhyming quatrains, blank verse, free verse and the Shakespearean sonnet. Readers are also given the opportunity to share my appreciation of fine art through the use of ekphrasis.
Throughout the book you will receive glimpses Lisa’s view of the world through the use of poetic devices. Budd Powell Mahan writes:
“The unifying feature of Smallest Leaf is the sensitive eye of the writer, the empathy that allows her to inhabit her subjects. Lisa Salinas proclaims the tenets she lives, finds blessing in being and invites each reader to recognize that joy is often a choice.”
For an additional review of the collection by Austin poet Carie Juettner, visit Review: Smallest Leaf.
Smallest Leaf received the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval in 2016.
How to Order
To order a copy of Smallest Leaf: A Collection of Poetry visit the online store.
“Once in a while, a poetry book grabs me in a different way and makes me sit down and dig in. Smallest Leaf by Lisa Toth Salinas did just that. Even the poems that didn’t resonate with me personally are full of the poet’s passion for the subject. I liked all of her work for that, for endearing me to her perspective on life.”
— Carie Juettner, review of Smallest Leaf
