“One asks of a poet whether she or he can look into the mirror of selfhood and see a world that intimates the breadth and depth of what we grandly call “existence.” Laura Johnson does that in poem after poem and leaves the reader the richer for the experience.” –Baron Wormser, 2000-2006 Poet Laureate of Maine
“In Not Yet Laura Johnson writes a poetry of devotion set in today’s world of mini vans, tortilla chips and snorkeling. Her poems breathe life into ancient questions: how to hope in dark times, keep the faith in a world where suffering, even evil, is rampant. Part of her response is a necessary self-reckoning; another part is accepting grief. But there is also here a looking up and out at both present and “unreachable beauty.” Johnson’s poems possess a remarkable clarity and refreshing balance between her reading of biblical narratives and her embrace of “thrumming life.” These lovely poems do right by believers and nonbelievers, both, for the dignity they give to the hard questions and their honest, open replies, which like the swan in one poem, dare to ‘bow and see what the water reflects.'” –Betsy Sholl, Author of House of Sparrows
“Laura Johnson’s spiritual vision in these poems includes a sense of mystery for what is unknown as well as assured wisdom, and a reverence for all of creation alongside a playful, sly humor. Her empathy and compassion for what she sees—a group of campers with Down’s Syndrome, for example, or an injured man sitting by a store entrance—is wide and generous. These poems have something to teach us all.” –Karen Osborn, author of the novel Centerville, winner of the Independent Publishers Gold Award for Fiction