the blackbird ballad
by liv ross
The Blackbird Ballad is a fairy tale told in verse. In a far country, beside the sea, two boys face the joys and griefs of life together. Their bond grows with them, and becomes their source of strength to see them through when a fairy curse takes Rocas deep into the heart of Faerieland to find a cure, and Bran sets out after to ensure his friend returns safely home. It is a story about the risks and wonders of an enchanted world, and about the necessity of fellowship to see us through.
Liv Ross’s The Blackbird Ballad is a heroic tale of friendship, in that old sense of the word “hero.” Let Bran be the model for all of us who want to be known as a friend, and let Rocas be our example when darkness and shame cloud our minds. Told in iambic couplets, this enchanted story begs to be sung. I recommend that you follow Ross’s notes and lend these verses your voice.
praise for the blackbird ballad
—Seth Weick, poet and author of Call Out Coyote
Liv Ross’s verse fairy tale begins in the human heart’s restlessness, its hunger for a world more enchanted. But enchantment has its dangers. It takes its prisoners. This poem testifies to the grace that speaks in friendship and birdsong, and to its power to bring the wanderer home again. —Sally Thomas, poet and author of Motherland, Works of Mercy, and The Blackbird and Other Stories
Musical and haunting, as wild and weird as a tale from the Grimms, The Blackbird Ballad is a stunning debut. Ross crafts her lines with a delicate but sure hand, giving us an adventure with psychological and spiritual stakes, rendered in skillful verse. A book to read aloud by the fire year after year.
—Jane Clarke Scharl, poet and author of Sonnes les Matines, Ponds, and The Death of Rabelais
For the reader who loves the old tales of those who, finding the world “full of weeping,” answer the call of a voice out of “the waters and the wild” of Faërie, only to find that many trials and many helpers are needed to set themselves aright and return home again, Liv Ross’s debut—a poem with relish for what is venerable in form, language, and content—may well be the very book for you.
—Marly Youmans, poet and author of Seren of the Wildwood, Charis in the World of Wonders, and The Book of the Red King
about the author
Liv Ross is an urban monk, a poet, and essayist writing in and from the Ozarks. She also serves as Managing Editor for Traces Journal. In addition to writing, Liv practices gardening, pipe-smoking, leather-working, music-making, and mischief. This is her first book.