windfall starlight

A collection of Japanese short form poetry by Meredith Ackroyd.

"A heartfelt haiku collection by Meredith Ackroyd, windfall starlight explores motherhood and ecological themes with delicate beauty and balance through fifty deftly-crafted poems that follow the narrative of her life. Threads such as pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding are woven with striking imagery from the natural world, illustrating the interconnectivity of humans and ecosystems. Speaking to how much the work of mothering shares in common with the work of environmentalism - both being rooted in care, protection, and reverence of life - Meredith invites readers to reflect on the complexities of caring for our humans and caring for our earth.  A timely, highly-relatable must read."

Kelly Sargent,

author of The Honeybee's Waggle

"In windfall starlight, Meredith Ackroyd keeps her finger on the pulse of the world, noticing its small movements, sudden beauty, and quiet transformations. A snail uncurls; ripe pears fall; a creek slips into daylight; a sparrow's song disappears into dusk; jam jars cool and bodies glow. These poems don't take ordinary things for granted but celebrate them.

Alongside the natural world, Meredith explores the changes in a woman's life. It's called Mother Nature for a reason. The poems move through milk-stained nights, a changing and healing body, and children growing. Yet nature is never simply a backdrop to these experiences. The river, birds, wildflowers, moonlight and stars seem to speak the same language as the body and the heart. What emerges is a tender conversation between the outer world and the inner one -- a recognition that our lives are not separate from the nature around us, but a part of it."

Vandana Parashar,

Associate Editor, haikuKATHA;

International Women's Month Editor, #FemkuMag