Award-winning writer, teacher
and scholar

Leaves of Absence

Leaves of Absence

Cover Art & Illustration: Sally Deskins

Honor Book for the 2017 Nebraska Book Award for Illustration

Semi-Finalist for the 2013 Concrete Wolf Chapbook Competition

With a lush look at the body in nature, Leaves of Absence: An Illustrated Guide to Common Garden Affection, Sally Deskins’ art considers the pallet of the human form within trees, the tall creatures that we stand among. Moving from fairy tale to children’s book, film representation to fact, Laura Madeline Wiseman’s poetry tells the love story of two trees as they fall from a growing forest into the outstretched limbs of the other. Together the art and words weave a rich ecology of place to show us that even when we’re reaching away from what we know, our lives are actually becoming more entwined, binding us to what we love.

With the strength of an oak and deep as its roots, the poetry of Laura Madeline Wiseman synchronizes gently with the sweet flow of the willow accomplished by Sally Brown Deskins. Nature inspires.
– Sheila Grabarsky

Praise for Leaves of Absence