Vanishing Life: A Poetic Warning

In Vanishing Life: A Poetic Warning, co-authors Joyce Brinkman and Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda use haibun and tercet forms to tell powerful narratives about living species on planet Earth who need our help to survive. Along the way, we learn of the Keystone creatures, like the Purple Sea Stars, who "help keep our world green." This beautiful collection is an intimate invitation to step into a world of wonderment as we learn about endangered species across the globe, and what part we should play in their preservation. After all, as the authors themselves so eloquently state, "we all have the right to go on living in safeguarded realms." -Jessica D. Thompson, author, The Mood Ring Diaries and Birds of Thunder Although writing is normally considered a solitary act, in Vanishing Life: A Poetic Warning, Joyce Brinkman and Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda join forces to prove that sometimes collaboration is the secret to creating a special work of art. Playing upon the haibun and tercet forms, the two poets take the reader around the world - from the Chesapeake Bay to the forests of Africa to Western Australia and beyond. Each poem is not only filled with facts about the endangered creatures of our planet, but also with a call to action in the preservation of the species. Just as the poets' words are interconnected, so are the lives of us humans intertwined with those of nature's beings. In this collection, the poets become the voices for those entities without a voice, those who "deserve the right to speak out and be heard." It is a plea, not only for their survival but for our own as well. -Linda Neal Reising, author, Navigation, 2026 BIBA and BookFest Award winner