Poetry. NATURAL DEFENSES is about love and loss. It is a kind of tone poem where the music of the words and flow of ideas is meant to carry the reader from the first poem "What Has Been Lost" to the final poem "Who Can Convince the Sea to be Reasonable?" To her work, Ms. Terris brings not only a depth of perception but intellect, humor, and a touch of the surreal. These poems reflect a woman in mid-life looking backwards as well as at the present; yet the book is also an outward journey examining the world at large, a book about the joys and sadness of all lives as works-in-progress.

Author City: SAN FRANCISCO, CA USA

Susan Terris was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She has a B.A. degree in English literature from Wellesley College and an M.A. from San Francisco State University. Ms.Terris has written poetry since she was an undergraduate in classes being taught by Richard Wilbur, David Ferry, and Philip Booth. Her writing career, however, began in the field of children's fiction. She had 21 books published by New York houses such as Doubleday, Macmillan, Scholastic, and Farrar, Straus & Giroux. During the same period, she also wrote poetry and had poems published from time to time. About 20 years ago, Ms.Terris began to find herself consumed by the writing of poetry. Since then she's written and published only poetry.

Reviews and Other Links
http://galatearesurrection4.blogspot.com/2006/11/two-books-by-susan-terris.html