Japanese Garden is a remarkable collection of poems, inspired as much by the poet’s intimate and lyrical encounters with the aesthetics of a particular place as by her affinity with the forms and sensibility of traditional Japanese poetry. Deceptively simple, the poems present a master class in what Robert Bly called “deep image,” where the realms of the physical and spiritual unite. As Nellie deVries implores us: “Come!” Wonders await.

Phillip Sterling, Professor Emeritus, Ferris State University, Author of, most recently, Lessons in Geography: The Education of a Michigan Poet (a memoir in essays) and Local Congregation: Poems Uncollected 1985-2015

"This thoughtful collection has been as carefully tended as the garden that inspired it. Follow the full circle of Nellie’s poems, pausing along the path to notice features, themes, and moods that shift with the changing seasons. Japanese Garden is a tranquil, reflective book that draws the reader into quiet wonder. It’s my joy to recommend it!"

Amy Nemecek, author of The Language of the Birds and Other Poems

Just noticing the world around us is a deeply spiritual path, and Nellie deVries walks there effortlessly in the delightful haiku-like poems of Japanese Garden. It is a quiet sanctuary of noticing. Her mastery of mono no aware—the art of capturing the beauty of the fleeting moment—is on display in this accessible and inviting volume, or as she writes, “This is not a gateless gate / yet the way / is always open.”

Robert Hudson, author of The Poet and the Fly, The Beautiful Madness of Martin Bonham, and The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style.

Nellie deVries has a deft touch with words and a discerning eye for vivid details. These delightful haiku will heighten a reader's appreciation for what is seen or anticipated when visiting the Japanese Garden at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan.      

Patricia Clark, author of O Lucky Day (her seventh book of poems). She is Professor Emerita of Writing at Grand Valley State University

The poems in Japanese Garden create perfectly nuanced reflections that embrace each season. They travel from spring, when a finch warbles haiku, to winter, when the poet “kneels to write a word…/ sees a pebble cradled in the womb of a rock /…and [feels]…awe.” Throughout her beautifully paced book, Nellie deVries is “pull[ing] the door closed / against the past.” In doing so, she opens our eyes to the present that is so vibrantly alive in her garden.

Linda Nemec Foster, Michigan Notable Book winner and author of Bone Country and The Blue Divide