"Magic the real" writes Nancy Botkin in
The Honeycomb
. These poems explore the necessity of art and the imagination, the ability to see that even the darkest places can resonate with beauty when the eye is trained to see it. Memory, that constant companion, also resonates; its fuzzy and fickle nature can be buoyed by artistry. As she combs the past, she discovers that a rich inner life is a powerful defense against a random and precarious existence. She delivers this message with clear language, subjecting the ordinary events of life to pressure, making them new, bright.