Ladder to the Light

In the follow-up to her debut poetry collection Kazoo Symphonies, Beth Wood explores deeper and more complex emotional territory. Inspired by an image from a Jane Hirshfield poem "Mule Heart" in which grief and joy are carried in "two waiting baskets," Wood seeks to find balance again and regain footing after heartbreaking loss. Ladder to the Light chronicles her journey from grief to gratitude to believing in love again — poetry as a ladder that lifts us back up to the light.

"Beth Wood's second book, Ladder to the Light, is not just the fun and wonderful work of a remarkable and accomplished singer-songwriter who has turned to poetry as a secondary art form — "something else she'd like to try on for size." This collection, quite simply, is some of the best poetry I have read within the last several years. Period. This competes on an American poetry scene level. And, frankly, kicks much of its ass." Nathan Brown, Author of An Honest Day's Prayer, Former Poet Laureate of Oklahoma

"Beth Wood is a courageous witness, careful and perceptive noticer, graceful word swimmer, and honest chronicler of soul-wrenching nights and unfathomable bliss. These poems are about how things and people echo off of other things and people, and why it matters so deeply. You will remember and recognize your own moments in her moments, and will also be taken to places you've never been.

These constellations of words are gifts born of careful, raw, vulnerable attention to beauty, but also born of living a real life, in which things happen that we don't choose, that tear us open and dare us to survive."

David LaMotte, Award-winning singer-songwriter, international speaker, author of Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness

Beth Wood is a poet and award-winning singer-songwriter who has toured the country playing music and delighting audiences for twenty years. She has released ten independent albums and one book of poetry, Kazoo Symphonies with Mezcalita Press. Joy is the currency that runs through Beth's work, through story and song, and her sensitive, intuitive nature allows her to address sorrow in a way that resonates and moves audiences and readers. Beth's work has expanded to include teaching and song coaching, as well as leading workshops at festivals, songwriting retreats, and beyond. Beth has been featured on Troubadour, TX, a nationally syndicated documentary-style singer-songwriter reality television series airing in almost 40 million households and 140 U.S. markets. She has also been a four-time featured artist on Cayamo, a week-long Caribbean songwriters' cruise along with Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, John Prine, Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson, and many more.