Whistling Woman shows a marked evolution for Mary, both in terms of her work and her life. It is, to me, a gentle book, as Mary is a gentle person. But it is also a political book of a kind, a defiant manifesto about life and purpose.

Whistling Woman is Mary Kellogg’s second collection of poetry to be published by Bedlam Farm Books. Mary’s first volume of poetry, My Place on Earth, was instantly successful, selling hundreds of copies within months.

Mary Kellogg seems to have been born a poet, even though she never considered herself one until she was nearly 80 years old. When Mary is not writing beautiful poems, she is driving her “Lady Friends” to church, raising money for hospice facilities, riding her tractor around her farm.