The Open Hand of Sky

The Open Hand of Sky examines personal bonds and the forces that break them. Divided in three parts, this intimate full-length collection by Connie Wasem Scott explores a sibling bond and shared memories lost to an illness; a marriage that dries up like desert rain and the child that sprang from the turmoil; the speaker's longing for connection that grows from loneliness and grief. Landscapes roll through this collection like a road trip through Colorado fields, North Dakota farmlands, the craggy hide of West Texas, to the towering trees of Washington. In each place, the speaker keeps an eye trained on the natural world - her source of comfort and stability, as though nature's hand will hold her steady against the blowing gales of time and loss.