Earth Behind My Thumb

According to Barbara Berkenfield, "when my first book of poetry "Driving Toward the Moon" was published in 2005, I never thought to add 'Volume I' because it never occurred to me that there would ever be enough material for a second book. But here it is, proof that wonders do never cease, with a selection of poems written during the past three years. It is often said that a second effort is never as good as the first, when an author has the advantage of drawing on a wealth of ideas and material germinating for many years. In spite of this concern, I hope my second collection will once again evoke the pleasure of common memories, as well as the pain of certain world events which should never be forgotten." Barbara Berkenfield grew up amid the noise and soot of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during its heyday as a city of belching steel mills and clanging street cars. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa at Wellesley College, she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in History of Art. In New York City, she found both her niche as a research consultant at the Wildenstein Gallery and her husband John Berkenfield. John's career eventually took them abroad with two young sons. They loved the vibrant energy of Paris and came to cherish the beauties and traditions of France. After seven years, the return to their home in New York suburbia provided severe culture shock which was eventually alleviated by their move to Santa Fe in 1989. Barbara is a free-lance writer and a docent at the living history museum, El Rancho de las Golondrinas. Like those in the first book, these poems of the last three years have been polished, or sometimes written, on treasured road trips in the Southwest.