Sutter, Bart: Cotton Grass

Nodin Press, paperback Publication Date: April 8, 2024 Publisher Marketing: The natural world has been a major source of inspiration for Bart Sutter's poetry for more than half a century, during which he has explored the backroads, trails, rivers, lakes, and bogs of the North, returning with vivid reports of otters eating golden walleyes, a big bull moose groaning for love, and the memorable music of a field full of bobolinks. Cotton Grass also bears witness to the allure of nature in urban settings. Sutter has drawn beauty and insight from the woodsy environs of his home overlooking Lake Superior: a fox appears at a summer big-band concert; a raccoon relaxes in the hole he's ripped through a roof, gazing round "like a soldier from the turret of a tank"; a pair of lovers find an emblem for their daring as they watch a falcon fold its wings and hurtle headlong toward the pavement. This retrospective collection reveals that, all along, Bart Sutter has resisted contemporary trends and gon