THE ANIMAL COMMITMENTS by M. C. Rush

The poems in this collection are astonishingly insightful and beautifully recursive. Each one has purpose, takes aim.  M. C. Rush offers a new voice—not strident, not dry, not preachy.  Rather, serene, clear as water in a spring-fed stream. His poems are compact and lustrous as fresh-water pearls.  Take a moment of quiet time to unwrap them.  Each one gets bigger and bigger with the unwrapping.  The poems in The Animal Commitments are for everyone, and for anyone who has ever taken pause to think about their place in the world.  Follow the author’s good advice:  “…sit outside / and ponder the animal commitments.”

–Arthur Stewart, poet, environmental scientist, author of The Ghost in the Word  and Elements of Chance

M. C. Rush is a poet of intelligence, craft, and dedication. It is a pleasure to read his poems.

–David Lehman, poet and series editor for The Best American Poetry