So Long the Sky
Platypus Press
May 2018
Ecommerce currently down. To purchase a copy of this book, please email mary@marykovaleskibyrnes.com.
"[An] extraordinary book of poems." — Eleanor Wilner
"It is rare for a first book to have such range and depth—the trials of the immigrant; the paradoxes of romance and family life; the wrangling with saints as well as sinners—So Long the Sky is a beautifully written travelogue of the soul." — John Skoyles
"These poems see home so clearly they break down distinctions between citizen and refugee, plead with us to define family more widely: ‘No borders / No borders / No borders.’" — Jill McDonough
"These poems are blessed with life and change. Like birds, these poems move from ash to flame and then back to life." — Devin Kelly
Interviews, Etc.
"All the Right Things," with Amanda Hodes at Adriot.
"How I Wrote Whistling Language," Adriot.
"On travel, study abroad, and the poem, Limbic Morning," for the Advanced Studies in England Newsletter.
Reviews
"Of course it is apropos that this collection begins with violence and heat and results in ash. Any new industry and beginning is often built on what came before or the backs of others. A fire can subsume more than architecture and lives. It can become what a place is remembered for. Byrnes writes, “This town is a funeral pyre.” Byrnes proves that yes, a town, a place, can die a horrible death. When an entire town dies, the people have to move somewhere else. These poems showcase the movement, the idea that “the only way out is through,” and maybe a new life is created but is often much different than what people envisioned." — Jennifer MacBain Stephens, "Step by Step: A Review of Mary Kovaleski Byrnes's So Long the Sky" Agape Editions.
Unvoiced, but for me implicit between the lines in this poem and the collection as a whole, is the idea that (‘empty’) landscape and life are ours to fill. Within this, I’m beautifully reminded that migration, and the sense of identity and belonging or not, happens not just across geography but across time. And it applies to us all." — Sarah James, "Review: So Long the Sky," Riggwelter.