BENNINGTON — With the April 3 release of “Anything and Its Shadow,” Lucie McKee proves it’s never too late for a debut. At 92, the Bennington-based poet offers readers a powerful first collection that reflects a lifetime of reflection, wonder, and attentive presence.
Published by Vermont’s Green Writers Press, “Anything and Its Shadow” is a contemplative collection of poems that explores themes of love, loss, and the ever-present struggle to live meaningfully. Through vivid imagery drawn from nature, food, and memory, McKee’s voice is at once lyrical, wry, and grounded—marking her arrival in the literary world with grace and quiet authority.
McKee, who earned her M.F.A. in poetry from Bennington College and her B.A. in Italian and art history from Smith College, has maintained a life immersed in the arts. She worked as an occupational therapist before turning full-time to poetry in retirement. Her work has appeared in The Southern Review, Poetry Review, and The Times Literary Supplement, but this is her first full-length volume.
The collection was brought to the attention of Green Writers Press by former Vermont Poet Laureate Mary Ruefle, who praised McKee’s work as “mature, elegant poems… written by such an attentive heart.”
The opening poem, “If Only,” sets the tone for the collection’s introspective and expansive reach. In it, McKee imagines time as wild berries she wishes she could gather in a jelly jar and share—“If only I could pick / a bunch of wild / seconds in the field / and hand them / to you in a jelly jar…” From this first moment, readers are welcomed into a space where the intimate and the infinite coexist.
Throughout the collection, McKee uses the natural world not as a backdrop but as an active participant in the emotional landscape. In “Broth,” she stirs together the metaphysical and the mundane; in “Herbes de Provence,” she gives voice to the spices in her kitchen; in “Green Bananas,” she considers time and ripening, aging, and patience.
McKee’s language is rich and layered, but her tone is never precious. Her voice has humor, humility, and a freshness that belies her age. Whether she’s writing about a Paris memory, a moment in her Vermont kitchen, or an imagined conversation with a bird, McKee invites the reader into moments of curiosity, gratitude, and grace.
“Anything and Its Shadow” is more than a debut—it is the distillation of a long life lived with attention and reverence. In Ruefle’s words, these poems reflect “the eyes, ears, and mind of a true listener… and through these poems, we have the honor of listening too.”
To order a copy, visit: bookshop.org/a/13094/9798990480193.
