In the Quiet Between Words

"Each Alice Byrd poem feels like an experience lived. There is a musical sense with these poems. Her poems sing through repetition, rhythm, and a soft down beat of irony. Alice takes you to the edge of a narrative where you might fall into a poignant abyss. George Oswalt Alice's poetry charms me. Many of her poems have a distinctive country folk lore voice which is rarely found in today's poetry. Her poems may be funny and sad, whimsical and profound, all in the same poem. Debbie Allen Quoting the poet, 'alone with the beating of my heart, ' the reader of Alice Byrd's very fine In the Quiet Between Words, under the spell of the poet's wisdom and sensibility, is enchanted by her vision of many matters such as family life, the relationships between mother and son and a teacher and her pupils, European travel discoveries, the poignancy of the loss of the Latin mass, to name only a few. Then, if the poet can claim to have 'survived on the backs of books, ' the reader can claim survival on the back of the very fine poetry in this collection, a book that will reward many re-readings with its vision and its music. Carl Sennhenn," Oklahoma Poet Laureate 2001-2003.