The Habit Of Fire: Poems Selected & New

Judith McCombs
The Word Works (2006)
ISBN 0915380579
Reviewed by Jeanette Cain for Reader Views (6/06)

“The Habit of Fire” is a collection of poems about nature.  Poems written of life, mountains, and death.  These poems read as if someone is telling their story or observing how they see life at that moment.  Some of these pages could have been written by a long time observer of the world.  The writing is so clear and uncomplicated that some may have been written with the innocent eyes of a child.

As I was reading this collection of poems, I was trying to think of words to describe how I felt.  In Judith McCombs’ poetry the words that come to mind are life, clear, and earth.  Her writing is of the purest most natural elements of life.  For example: "When he peed in the drifts his water froze like cheap yellow beads..."  In many of her writings she hints at the fact that human beings and nature do not always go together. 

One of my favorite poems would have to be "What are you doing".  In this poem the author tells of the "romantic notions" humans have of being with nature and the reality of the car keys rattling in the pocket.  If you have ever asked your self how or if humans fit with nature, then this collection of poems is for you.

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