I had never heard of her but her poetry is full of a sense of wonder, curiosity, and often a touch of the mythical - I think.

Here’s a bit of “why we tell stories”

Because we used to have leaves
and on damp days
our muscles feel a tug,
painful now, from when roots
pulled us into the ground

and because our children believe
they can fly, an instinct retained
from when the bones in our arms
were shaped like zithers and broke
neatly under their feathers

and because before we had lungs
we knew how far it was to the bottom
as we floated open-eyed
like painted scarves through the scenery
of dreams, and because we awakened

and learned to speak

see the full poem at http://plagiarist.com/poetry/3140/

She’s now on my list of books to snatch, i have to read more

Some links
short bio http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/85
interview after she got the pulitzer http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/april97/mueller_4-14.html

Today I chose a poem by Terry Windling, The Night Journey

I’m too lazy to triple check my facts tonight, so here it is from personal memory.
Now Terry Windling is an artist of multiple talents. First she writes, and she wrote one of my favorite books, The Wood Wife. She also writes poetry (obviously!), short stories and non fiction in blogs and magazines, drawing on her extensive knowledge of myth, folk lore and all related arts. She is also a visual artist. Then she is an editor of many successful anthologies, and last - but not least, to me, since this one influences me every week , via the Endicott studio, magazine and blog she also constantly finds delightful art around myth and folk lore, and writes fascinating reflections around all mythical topics. I have mentioned Endicott more than once on this blog so I will not bore my few readers away by going on.

This poem is very much a bit of an enumeration poem, but very musical and evocative… makes it hard to pick an bit out of… besides the page states not to reproduce it without permission in any form. So just go there, I’m too chicken to ask for permission to reproduce an excerpt. But I have had the poem bookmarked a while and it makes me want to go in a forest take pictures, or even draw…

The Night Journey

http://www.endicott-studio.com/cofhs/cofinvoc.html