Walk Deep is a collection of poems written as an offering to the forest path I have walked every day since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Inspired as much by the poetry of Mary Oliver, Ada Limon, Padraig O Tuama, and David Whyte, as by the songs of the Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest, my words arise from a deep love of the natural world. Walk Deep calls attention to the power that a familiar outer landscape has as a companion, mirror, compass, and divination tool for our inner landscape.

Walk Deep is for fellow travelers who wish to harvest the hard-won gold from their own unique journeys.

Written during the first year of the pandemic, Walk Deep is the winner of the 2021 Homebound Poetry Contest.

Walk Deep

Homebound plants a tree for every book sold on their website!

Praise for Walk Deep

  • "Walk Deep’s devoted, interconnected journey towards authenticity is alive with deep feeling. Like the mycorrhizal roots of an old-growth forest, these poems weave self, nature, and family within a living word-web.”

    Annie Finch, Poet, author of Spells: New and Selected Poems and A Poet’s Craft

  • "Abigail lovingly beckons us to open ourselves to consider what it means to belong to this big wild hurting world. It is a great pleasure to walk with her through reading these poems."

    Jennifer Louden, National Best-Selling author of The Woman's Comfort Book, The Woman's Retreat Book, The Life Organizer and Why Bother

  • "This lovely anthology from Abigail Morgan Prout invites us all into a more resonant and empowering relationship with the familiar and gently nudges us to savor the beauty that washes through our day-to-day.  She also invites those of us in the coaching and leadership profession into a new relationship with the medium of poetry.  Don’t miss it!”

    Karen and Henry Kimsey-House, Co-Founders of The Co-Active Training Institute

  • "This is accessible poetry, written with an intelligence that sees beyond the ordinary , giving us a glimpse into the extraordinary. As a collection, Walk Deep invites us to pause at the wisdom of the intersection where human nature, with all its complexities, meets the natural world.  Reading these poems, I feel connected to that mysterious and beautiful force, to my own humanity, and to all who share this planet with me.”

    Kat Kehres Knect, author and CEO of Soul Driven Success

  • "Listen here, Abigail Morgan Prout invites, instructs, implores in this wondrous collection of poetry. Her deep walking in the woods yields gifts of beauty and wisdom, reminding us that all we have here "is this thin slice of time."  How lucky we are she uses some of hers to pen poems.  As I read, I kept thinking to myself, "this is my favorite," and then a short while later, "this is my favorite," and on and on!”

    Iris Graville, author of Writer in a Life Vest and Hiking Naked

  • "Rhythm and rhyme give shape to Prout’s tender poems, as she seeks to “walk deep” in the forest of her imagination, exploring fern, fir, and ocean spray on Lopez Hill, while simultaneously turning her attention to her dreams, experiences of marriage, family and home, and the fragility of our earth. Reading these poems will give you a vibrant sense of place, and reveals Prout’s gift for believing in everyone’s sacred journey. As Prout writes: “Touch is not lost, it is just underground…”

    Kip Robinson Greenthal, award-winning author of Shoal Water

  • "This is just such a glorious, heart-warming, heart-bursting, heart-rending collection… More than ever, this is what we need as our world unravels and we strive to find the courage to face the moment and the inspiration to step forward into a new way of being and belonging.  The rhythms of pain and wonder, of connection and understanding sink deep into our bones.  The language of loss and love and wounding and healing remind us that at heart, we are all one mind, one heart, one soul striving to reconnect with the All That Is and the web of life that arises from it…I do so hope this collection becomes a best-seller."

    Manda Scott, Best selling author, columnist, Teacher

More Praise…

Winner of the Nautilus Award - 2023

Pushcart Award Nominee - 2023

Winner of the Homebound Poetry Contest - 2021

The Story

The weekend before COVID hit in 2020, I accepted a coaching challenge to write a poem every day for 30 days and to share my words with my contact list. I took on this “Viral Poetry” challenge, and writing poetry quickly became a daily attunement practice.

One month became two, and before I knew it, I had written a poem nearly every day for one year.  Following my intuition, I submitted this body of work to the 2021 Homebound Poetry Prize… and won!

This book was created by following the Spiral Leadership method.  My organic process of connecting with wilderness, writing and sharing these poems was greatly informed by this nature-based, feminine-forward leadership program. If you’re interested in exploring this program yourself, you can read more about it here.

Poems from Walk Deep

Read by the author ~ Abigail Morgan Prout

Past Book Readings

2023

February 2023 | Darvill's Bookstore - Eastsound, WA

March 2023 | Lopez Island Community Center - Lopez Island, WA

April 2023 | Orcas Earth Day Celebration: Emmanuel Episcopal Church - Orcas Island, WA

April 2023 | Village Books - Bellingham, WA

April 2023 | Elliot Bay Books - Seattle, WA

June 2023 I Griffin Bay Bookstore- Friday Harbor, WA

June 2023 I Orcas Literary Festival - Orcas Island, WA

November 2023 I Pelican Bay Books - Anacortes, WA

2022

June 2022 | Orcas Literary Festival - Orcas Island, WA

October 2022 | Boulder Quaker Church - Boulder, CO

October 2022 | Omega Institute - Rhinebeck, NY

November 2022 | Lopez Island Library, Lopez Island, WA