• Home
• Poetry Books
  • Refuge
  • Litany of Wings
  • Sample Poems
• Other Publications
• Teaching Schedule
  • Workshops
  • Retreats
  • Testimonials
• Editing & Consulting
• About Amber
  • Biography
  • Contact Info

Litany of Wings

Litany of Wings is a beautiful book of poems by Amber Coverdale Sumrall, published by Many Names Press in 1998 (ISBN: 0-9652575-3-3).

"These are beautiful poems."

―Grace Paley

"Amber Coverdale Sumrall's poems are deeply felt and will touch many with their evocation of love and possibility and wings."

―Lucille Clifton

"Written with honesty and grace, these poems move through a landscape shaped by a rich, personal history and a clear rendering of details that, in the telling, become much larger than their sum. Wise and tender, Litany of Wings maps out one woman's journey towards some center, that startling, wordless place that harbors what is most human in us."

―Silvia Curbelo

"These winged poems bridge the worlds of nature and spirit with ultimate grace. In language both sensual and evocative, they celebrate a passionate life in all its manifestations and seasons."

―Maude Meehan

"Reading Litany of Wings is like spending several hours in quiet meditation and prayer. Amber Coverdale Sumrall looks at life with a poet's eye, discerning what is important, precious and rare. These poems are deeply rooted in the earth, the body, the soul and the heart."

―Lesléa Newman

"Amber Coverdale Sumrall addresses our search for meaning with the voice of one who never claims to have arrived. These poems are as compassionate as they are passionate. Not even Robinson Jeffers has conveyed the smells and shades, the sounds and silences of the Pacific Coast with more sensousness."

―Brother David Steindl-Rast

"Litany of Wings is an amazing and complex book of poems. Amber Coverdale Sumrall has created a masterpiece: a book overflowing with sensual images of birds, plants, animals, cycling through life and death, full of irony, humorous at times, serious and binding at others. She seems to test the true mettle of life's worth, making us feel human and full. Always true to the memories and testimonies of the living and dead, no one feels left out or forgotten. I love this book."

―Kate Hitt