The Girl in the Yellow Dress

Toni Ortner's chapbook The Girl in the Yellow Dress contains poems that map desire as she lights holy candles in the wake of grief and breathes in the sigh of a lost child. "O ruined cities of my dreams" "In that cold space between stars" Ortner feeds us Surrealistic poems that break before us.

-Terry Hauptman, poet/painter

Toni Ortner's poems take place in the hidden crevices of our lives, noticed from the corners of our eyes. They remind me of my own secrets and made me cry.

-Carolyn North, author of l6 novels, including The Experience of a Lifetime: Living Fully, Dying Consciously

The Girl in the Yellow Dress is a book that reaches beyond the surfaces and takes the reader to unexpected places. "Three hours left to build the promised snowman / with the ghosts of those we love." "...a shining river / the waters are silver / it flows past your door." "All bones and dark eyes / wants to ride to the end of the line." "Snow / sifts space / drifts against the evening star." I admire the minimalism of her images and the way they cut to the core.

-Diane Frank, author of While Listening to the Enigma Variations: New and Selected Poems