Duluth Poet Laureate Packa uses the metaphor of bird migration and myth to examine ways we relinquish the self.

According to an ancient Greek story, the god Chaos was the first to emerge at the creation of the universe. Soon after her came Gaia (Earth), Tartaros (the Underworld) and Eros (Love). In many versions, Chaos then gave birth to the Birds. From the primordial depths of time, from Chaos herself came these winged first beings. This wild birthing created migrations and flight. In more recent times, soon after Darwin published his book, "On the Origin of the Species," scientists began a heated debate about the origin of birds. Most scientists today believe that birds are one of the few remaining...

Sheila Packa has received two Loft McKnight Fellowships, in both poetry and prose, and numerous other awards. She was Duluth's Poet Laureate of 2010-2012. According to Leah Rogne, PhD, of Minnesota State University in Mankato, "Sheila Packa's poetry is at once deeply personal and widely universal in its evocative exploration of fundamental human experience. Using the red ore dust with which she was raised, she paints vivid images of birth and death, work and struggle, hope and despair. Packa captures the unrest of immigrants leaving their homes in Finland and the unrest of the bitter labor...