Unbound: Heidi Barr’s Church of Shadow and Light

A poetic call to transformation, healing, and the sacred balance of darkness and light

Unbound: A showcase of bold, necessary, and transformative writing.

Unbound is a recurring feature showcasing new writing and essential poetry—works that challenge, inspire, and redefine the art of language.

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In Church of Shadow and Light, Heidi Barr crafts a luminous and introspective collection that explores the tension between sorrow and joy, conflict and peace, shadow and light. Like Mary Oliver, Barr turns to the natural world as both mirror and guide, finding solace in trees, frost, and quiet spaces. With each poem, she asks us to sit with life’s hardest questions: What’s worth going toward with your whole life? How do we find grace amid struggle? How can we hold both the darkness and the light?

Already receiving critical acclaim, Church of Shadow and Light was praised by Kirkus Reviews, which called it “resonant for those seeking peace and beauty in ambiguity.” Describing Barr’s work as vivid and reflective, the review highlights her ability to use nature as a lens for exploring resilience and hope.

For poet and author Sarah Hanson (Conjuring the Hurricane), Barr’s collection is “a balm to soothe even the most long-forgotten aches.” These poems do not just observe nature; they consecrate it, reminding us that the sacred is found in the everyday. Meghan J. Ward, author of Lights to Guide Me Home, describes the collection as “a sorrowful yet beautiful call to consider how we might show up, even when it hurts.” With language that is both tender and fierce, Barr explores what it means to seek peace in a chaotic world, offering an alternative to the cycles of violence and despair.

For Kaitlin B. Curtice, award-winning author of Native and Living Resistance, Barr’s poetry is more than art—it is guidance: “Barr is a prophetic poet and a kind of spiritual guide, leading us deeper into the world and thus deeper into ourselves.” These poems do not shy away from life’s complexities but instead offer a quiet, contemplative path forward, a space where light and shadow are no longer adversaries but companions.

A writer and wellness coach, Barr’s work is rooted in the belief that sustainable, life-giving ways of being are possible for individuals and communities alike. Living on Dakota land in rural Minnesota, she draws inspiration from the natural world, weaving themes of environmental connection, social healing, and personal transformation into her poetry.

In a time when so many are searching for meaning, Church of Shadow and Light is both solace and challenge—a reminder that the divine is always present, in the shadows as much as in the light.

As spring takes hold in the northern hemisphere, we can’t wait to share this extraordinary book with you. Order a copy in our store (i.e., not Amazon) and follow Wayfarer Books for updates.

Photo by Steinar Engeland

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Enjoy selections from the collection:

Sacred Stretch

Go to the darkening places

where emotion stands tall

making even home ground feel shaky

and ask a silhouette to dance.

Invite someone you trust

to be there with you

in acknowledgment of what is—

even hard places soften

when allowed to move true.

Stories in the Water

I see stories in puddles dotting lake ice

trying to hold on—lake ice not quite ready

to acquiesce to warmth’s transition.

Or maybe it’s just me that’s not ready,

during a winter that never really was, a winter

of unwanted flame and feelings of being cast aside, a winter

that held too much of some things and not enough of others.

Those stories dotting the lake

tell tales of letting go, of reflection,

of seeing beauty existing alongside lament.

Those stories contain truth, the kind of truth

you have to allow in, be patient enough to uncover.

I see stories in puddles dotting the lake ice—

stories that reach across the unwanted

through ripples of winter’s warmth

to offer love through loss.

Waiting for Sunrise

How do you capture fog

racing across newly open water

on a morning when chill laces the air

and bird song fills the stillness?

You can’t, not really—

because wild beauty isn’t containable

by photograph or word or even memory.

But it can be existed within,

every moment of your attention

becoming part of who you are,

claiming you as part of what’s true.

Heidi Barr is a writer and wellness coach whose work is founded on a commitment to cultivating ways of being that are life-giving and sustainable for people, communities, and the planet. She lives with her family on Dakota land in rural Minnesota.