Roots in Water: Selected and New Poems

As the seasons turn

one to the next, so we travel

from East to West.

We rise and flow with the years ...

from "Ceremony"

"To read Johnson's poems is to look into the heart and soul of a poet who celebrates each quiet moment of a well-lived life. Like Mary Oliver, her job is clearly to 'pay attention.' Drawing on 12 previous collections and introducing 15 new poems, Johnson stays closely attuned to the nuances of personal relationships and the wonders of the natural world. Deeply moving, humorous, provocative, and achingly honest, Johnson's poetry reminds us that remembering lies at the core of who we are. I will enter these poems again and again with a sense of camaraderie and belonging." --Ellen Lord, author of Relative Sanity

"In reading this fine poet, I find Johnson making use of ideas, images, and tones across the whole spectrum that echo 'academic' poetry from Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell to Mary Oliver. Her poems are full of dabs of color worthy of the French Impressionists." --Mack Hassler, U.P. Book Review