Trial By Ordeal

"Mobley writes out of a place of great love and great loss with grace and gratitude."

--Kim Barnes, Distinguished Professor of English, University of Idaho

"Bemused, unsparing yet tender, Karen Mobley's poems juxtapose human suffering alongside nature's 'raw and present' beauty in this moving anatomy of sorrow. Equally attuned to small birds and searing questions, Mobley shows us that no matter what befalls those we love, no matter our souls' myriad pains and hungers, we are gently propelled toward 'astonishment / with a side of salt and honey.'"

--Laurie Klein, author of Where the Sky Opens

"Through the thatched lines Mobley layers, interweaving traumatic, sometimes horrific, yet tragically beautiful, and tender, imagery from her own life of sacrifice, injustice, and shame, one atop the other, same as on canvas, suddenly, this view and sense emerge that make you want to feel each poem more deeply, step into the experience like a tightrope walker, not wanting to look down."

--Zan Agzigian, poet/writer and host/producer of Soundspace, Spokane Public Radio

"Karen Mobley creates poetry written with the full-on sensory palette of an artist. In dealing with loss and grief, there is comfort in the beautifully detailed intimacies of childhood memories; there are lessons taught by nature: the flora, the fauna, even the rocks; and there is the grace, compassion, and wisdom of the gospel in ultimately learning to turn the other cheek. Trial By Ordeal is a good and loving daughter's journey, one that informs us as we navigate ours."

--Chris Cook, poet laureate of Spokane, Washington