Prayer of Scalpel & Ash is a rare creation of song and scar, of deep vulnerability and raw humanity, of emotional complexity and simple witness. In a world where empathy is under threat of erasure, Riddell’s structurally unique, heartfelt yet conceptual poetry delicately balances illness, family, broken landscapes, broken bodies, broken faith, and our constant reaching for something beautiful we cannot name but know must be there, just beyond our fingertips. There’s such sharpness to Riddell’s metaphors, such richness to the painfully stirring world she builds for us, both defining and pushing against the edges of our shared human experience. These poems choose to both celebrate and mourn everything they touch. Even their own ghosts. Even that greater truth that always remains just slightly out of reach, that she refuses to stop reaching toward.
John Sibley Williams, author of As One Fire Consumes Another
Prayer of Scalpel & Ash is a rare creation of song and scar, of deep vulnerability and raw humanity, of emotional complexity and simple witness. In a world where empathy is under threat of erasure, Riddell’s structurally unique, heartfelt yet conceptual poetry delicately balances illness, family, broken landscapes, broken bodies, broken faith, and our constant reaching for something beautiful we cannot name but know must be there, just beyond our fingertips. There’s such sharpness to Riddell’s metaphors, such richness to the painfully stirring world she builds for us, both defining and pushing against the edges of our shared human experience. These poems choose to both celebrate and mourn everything they touch. Even their own ghosts. Even that greater truth that always remains just slightly out of reach, that she refuses to stop reaching toward.
John Sibley Williams, author of As One Fire Consumes Another
Title: Prayer of Scalpel & Ash
Author: Amy Riddell
Publisher: Rockwood Press
Released: 2025 - December
Format: chapbook, acid-free paper, silk cover
Pages: 44
Price: $10
ISBN: 978-1-59498-193-7
