Surrender to a wild river and unexpected things can happen. Time on the water can produce moments of pristine clarity or hatch wild thoughts, foster a deep connection with the real world or summon the spiritual.

River of Light: A Conversation with Kabir is centered in one man’s meditations and revelations while traveling on a river. John Morgan spent a week traveling the Copper River in Southcentral Alaska, and the resulting encounters form the heart of this book-length poem. The river’s shifting landscape enriches the poem’s meditative mood while currents shape the poem and the pacing of its lines. The mystic poet Kabir is Morgan’s internal guide and serves as a divine foil through quiet stretches that bring to mind questions about war and human nature. Artwork by distinguished Alaska artist Kesler Woodward is a sublime companion to the text.

A combination of adventurer’s tale and spiritual quest, River of Light: A Conversation with Kabir takes the reader on a soulful journey that is both deeply personal and profoundly universal.

John Morgan has published four earlier books of poetry and, most recently, a collection of essays called Forms of Feeling: Poetry in Our Lives. He was the first writer-in-residence at Denali National Park. He lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Bellingham, Washington. Kesler Woodward is professor of art emeritus from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He is the author of six books, most recently Painting Alaska. He lives in Fairbanks, Alaska.

— Michael Waters, author of Gospel Night and editor of Contemporary American Poetry

— Christianne Balk, author of Bindweed and Desiring Flight

— MANOA

— Alaska Dispatch

— Raven Review

— Northern Review