Roberta Beary — Touchstone Distinguished Books Honorable Mention 2024

Roberta Beary is the recipient of a Touchstone Distinguished Books Honorable Mention for 2024 for the volume Carousel (Ormskirk, United Kingdom: Snapshot Press, 2024).

Commentary from the Panel:

As with Roberta Beary’s three previous haiku collections, Carousel takes readers on an emotional journey. Throughout this journey, the poet makes essential connections and creates an immediate impact with each haiku.

skylight moon
my unspoken need
for boundaries

isolation ward
mom says i don’t look good
in blue

threading the robin’s nest frayed sunset

Beary avoids the often-used tropes found in many contemporary haiku, allowing for refreshing new takes on a variety of subjects. Themes of family relationships and emotional trauma are explored with a wise, forgiving tone.

mother gone
moonlight shimmers
the last white rose

divorce day
hand-picking
perennials

As a poet identifying as gender fluid, Beary writes to connect with others outside the gender binary and express the need to “give voice to the voiceless.” With careful attention to the placement of each word, Beary creates a narrative arc that delivers readers from isolation to connection.

non-binary below blue ocean eyes

water lilies
a murmur of voices
drifts into dusk

almost summer
the smell of wet paint
on the carousel

The title poem juxtaposes the new and the nostalgic. A carousel, perhaps decades old, is receiving a fresh coat of paint. Readers can imagine taking their children to ride the same carousel they rode as children. We’re grateful to Beary for taking us on this insightful, poignant ride.

See the complete list of winners of both Individual Poem Awards and Distinguished Books Awards in the Touchstone Archives.