“Through the transformative power of her imagery, Megeen Mulholland explores the beauty in the ordinary and the joy in the familiar. Orbit celebrates the strength of generations of women, from the mother in “Laundry Day” who becomes a creative force while while standing at the “sodden base of the stem of our rotating clothesline” to the “six-months old” daughter in “Orbit” who is seen as “infinitely wise.” Mulholland’s poetry examines the world with the fresh eyes of the child and the maturity of the mother.”
–Linda Scoville, Ph.D., UAlbany

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With Orbit, Megeen Mulholland offers a collection of poems that suggest a wistfulness, weighted by time and infused with love. There are detailed memories of ordinary moments, like so many, that gain significance with distance– “At last, my mother would stand/straight and step back, hands on hips/as if to gain perspective on her creation/drink in the scent of it/and watch the wind/deliver it over/to the sky/with a flourish.”  When reading, we share that common pursuit of seeking a connection to a lost loved one, perhaps the path via nature, suggesting that if only indirectly, that connection can still be found, or at least some solace in the attempt—”Breathe it in! Breathe it in! Breathe it all in! Each inhalation/I imagined, took/me higher, up/to Father who/floated far above/his youngest daughter-/awaiting my arrival.” The eponymous “Orbit” provides the sudden realization of relationship’s gravity, the Copernican discovery of the true nature of a child’s celestial  sway. I don’t think I’ve ever read or heard a better description of the epiphany of parenthood: “the axis at which/we are aligned-/from where I listen for/from where I look upon/from where I encompass/and try to guide her—/only to suddenly/humbly find, and/gratefully see, as/I am circling her/she is orbiting me.”

–Damon Stewart, Author of Interesting Tales of Other People’s Woe