The poems in This Is the Lightness are fired with imagination and the fragility of the human experience. Rachel Barton has created a collection of poetry that takes the reader on a journey through the natural world; explores the concept of identity and belonging; honors our sacred connections with family and friends through aging, death, and loss; and tackles the present-day with all its perils and possibilities.

"These are poems that offer a world of surprises and beauty with the gift of memorable language."

-Doug Stone, author, Sitting in Powell's Watching Burnside Dissolve in Rain

"This Is the Lightness welcomes the reader into its poem-world through intriguing and often surprising narrative, lush natural imagery, close attention to sound and flow, quirky humor-and most strikingly, a tonal tendency that's simultaneously serious and light-hearted."

-Marjorie Power, author of Sufficient Emptiness

"...her attention to detail is disarming. She travels far, but always returns home, only to find something wild within herself."

-Karah Kemmerly, co-founder of Conjunction Press