Samsara

Published by Turning Point (WordTech Communications) 2014

​Samsara, from the Sanskrit, refers to the ever-turning wheel of life. Themes of circularity and renewal pervade these poems: an ailing neighbor watches kite surfers "turn their bodies into wind;" love is reborn at the circus; bicycle wheels spin circles into fields. Throughout, Markell seeks out currents that connect us to the natural world and to each other in the circular universe. Whether describing a spotted salamander discovered under a fallen log or speculating on "nomadic atoms" that become the dusty shtetl of ancestors, Samsara vividly conveys a sense of wonder that invites the reader to step onto the wheel and savor what they find.