Before Every Other Fall

Mitchell's poetry is distinctive - it triggers emotion in the reader without the use of sentimentality, intellectual thought without the use of lecture, and above all, an appreciation of sensory opportunities that the reader instinctively feels she would have missed without Mitchell's poetry to serve as a prompt. His poetry is like a gift - the chance to re-experience seemingly familiar sights and sounds in a way that wrings the most from the experience. Some of the poems are tragic...
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Mitchell's poetry is distinctive - it triggers emotion in the reader without the use of sentimentality, intellectual thought without the use of lecture, and above all, an appreciation of sensory opportunities that the reader instinctively feels she would have missed without Mitchell's poetry to serve as a prompt. His poetry is like a gift - the chance to re-experience seemingly familiar sights and sounds in a way that wrings the most from the experience. Some of the poems are tragic and some are lighter fare, but all prompt a feeling of immediacy, intimacy and sensory richness. Mitchell's poems must be read slowly and should be savored, an approach to our daily experiences that Mitchell's work encourages in the reader.
Dr. Daniel Barwick - President, Independence Community CollegeIndependence, Kansas
This book of poetry can be read in one sitting, but the reader will want to return to it again and again to revisit the images that have been so elegantly created. Rick Mitchell writes with a refreshingly clean voice as he moves through memories of desire, love, loss, and keen elation. As a poet, he asks us to use all of our senses, and he challenges us by creating complex metaphors about human nature and the natural world; as readers, we are compelled to move with him in these poems from the vulnerability of innocence to the strength of graceful experience.
Calista A. McBride, Professor English and Humanities Alfred State College