Alchemy

August 2024, Kelsay Books

Drawn from my experiences and educations as a science student, veterinarian, and writer, Alchemy expresses my longing to bridge the divides between scientific knowledge and metaphysical knowing. The poems address topics of nature, natural history, science, religion, philosophy, and metaphysics. As a collection, these poems explore the tensions and convergences between the sciences and the humanities.

Photo of the front cover of Alchemy, which features trinkets and jewelry (many passed down from my mother) arranged on a cloth background. Each broach, bracelet, pendant, earring, and trinket illustrates a theme or topic from the poetry. Featured in the center, a Noah's ark pin and a globe-and-animals pin are connected by an antique miniature watch on a chain. Other items show mammals, birds, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, plants, and a fossilized seashell. Text on the cover reads "Alchemy, poems, Rae Spencer".
Photo of the front cover of Alchemy, which features trinkets and jewelry (many passed down from my mother) arranged on a cloth background. Each pin, bracelet, pendant, earring, and trinket illustrates a theme or topic from the poetry.

The language usage in this book of poetry is superb, with notable diction and the precision of scientific inquiry. As a co-traveler in science, I’m right on track with Rae’s descriptions translated into poetry. Her use of language is novel, as in “Dandelions fret into a fluster of seed“. Her internal rhymes tighten each poem successfully. The wonders of the natural world are on full display in this book, which I heartily recommend.

Eric Forsbergh, multiple prize winner Poetry Society of Virginia, retired health care worker

Embryology, cosmology, evolution…double helices, insect wings, quarks…mystery, contemplation, enlightenment: the poems of Alchemy wend their way through an expanding universe of discovery. There is scarcely a field of science or philosophy that Rae Spencer does not embrace in this collection, using language both precise and technical as well as elevated and elevating. Nothing is beneath our noticing; nothing is unworthy of praise. Perhaps the best way to approach this collection is as, in the poet’s own words, “a patchwork philosophy of wonder” (“Agnost”).

Bill Griffin, North Carolina naturalist & poet; http://griffinpoetry.com

Starting with quotes from great thinkers such as Kant, Darwin, Bacon, and Newton, Rae Spencer takes us on a poetic exploration of science, math, geographies of the land and the interior mind, the origins and nature of life. She is a gifted guide to the natural world, The beauty and efficiency of her words are equations come to life, making the most intricate concepts sing, leaving us more open to understanding than we may have ever felt inside a physics or philosophy class. Alchemy is remarkable science and even more remarkable poetry.

Annmarie Lockhart, founding editor, vox poetica

To read a few of the poems in this collection, follow these links:

Alchemy is available paperback and Kindle ebook format.

Details (paperback):

  • ISBN: 1639806288
  • Publisher: Kelsay Books
  • Publication date: August 30, 2024
  • Page count: 104 pages
  • Purchase price: $20.00
  • Available for purchase on the Kelsay Books website or at Amazon

Details (Kindle version):

  • ASIN: BODG3RMK8F
  • Publisher: Kelsay Books
  • Publication date: September 3, 2024
  • File size: 4261kb
  • Text-to-speech: enabled
  • Screen reader: supported
  • Sticky notes available on Kindle scribe
  • Purchase price: $9.99
  • Available for purchase at Amazon

Reviews

  • Verse Image: “This slim coverlet of atmosphere that supports us, this beneficent congregation of creatures within such mild extremes of warmth and moisture and light, how can one walking through such a place not be inspired?” (Read the full review here.)
  • Crafty Green Poet: “From the opening poem ‘Expansion’ which uses Alice in Wonderland to explore ideas around space and time, the reader is taken on a scientific adventure. Charles Darwin is quoted in ‘Means of Dispersal’ which looks at his scientific studies of seeds. The poems also question science…” (Read the full review here.)
  • North of Oxford: “In short, reading Alchemy is like a process of intellectual wrestling and knowledge-gaining about human exploration of the universe and the world we live in.” (Read the full review here.)

Alchemy page at Shepherd

Shepherd strikes me as an interesting experiment in book networking. Authors create a five-book recommendation list anchored in a theme that also includes their own book. For Alchemy, I chose “The best books that could have been dull but are actually poetry (and are sometimes about poetry)“.

My favorite part of Shepherd is finding the books that I recommended on other lists with themes like “The best books to change how you think about plants“, “The best books to ‘unlearn’ stereotypes about Indigenous peoples: indigeneity in the 21st century“, and “The best books about American disasters“. On each of these intersecting lists are four other books that I may or may not have heard of or read.

The entire site is a giant, beautifully complex Venn diagram of books that share only one encompassing feature: they are all recommended by other authors. My to-be-read list grows each time I visit. (hat tip to Scientist Sees Squirrel)