he creative work of Ellen Waterston never stops for long—if ever, whether she's converting her verse into a libretto or overseeing operations in her new role as executive director at Playa, an arts and science retreat in Summer Lake, Ore. The longtime Oregon resident has just released her fourth book of poetry, "Hotel Domilocos: Poems" with Moonglade Press.
The image on the cover is the actual Hotel Domilocos in Costa Rica. While the hotel doesn't exist anymore, Waterston knew that when she saw it, it needed to be a title for her next book. "We all qualify for living in the hotel for locos," Waterston joked during a recent phone conversation. "Life is just crazy and we are all crazy in it."
Waterston describes these most recent poems as a buffet of perspective in which the common thread is looking at place and the collision of culture within it. The poems range from reflections on ranch living to visiting south of the border to explorations on the east coast growing up. While some poems take a serious tome of time and passing, Waterston refuses to shy away from the humor of life—even including a poem reflecting upon airplane pretzels.
"For quite a long time I thought I could move back (to the east coast). In some ways, I feel like I am a woman without a country, which is why I think I examine them so closely," Waterston says. "I know where I am when I am really far out. I know where I am when I am in big space."
As the landscapes begin to shrink in an ever-developing Oregon, Waterston continues forward examining them with her heart, reminding us that we need to enjoy the vistas while we have them.
Ellen Waterston
Available from Moonglade Press and on Amazon.com
