In TENACITY OF LACE, Vicki Mandell-King unravels knots and weaves threads into delicate and compelling patterns of holding on and letting go. While telling stories of relationships, soldiers, criminals, births and deaths, birds and stars, the poems in TENACITY depict the connections formed and the empty spaces in between. By turns lyrical, then narrative, these poems are rich with images, dialogue and music, and if their endings surprise the reader, this is only because the endings have snuck up on the poet herself.

In this courageous and insistently honest collection of poems, Vicki Mandell-King portrays the disparate feelings that arose during the four long years when her mother-in-law was dying: love, annoyance, exhaustion, regret, defiance, fear-even humor. SHRINKING INTO INFINITE SKY gives us all permission to feel those emotions we often think of as "bad"-emotions that, when worked through, can be transformed into moments of intimacy and grace.