Davis ('96) to publish 'Cow Poetry'

Meghan Davis (‘96) will publish her first “chapbook” of poetry in December under the pen name M. Frost. The book, Cow Poetry and Other Notes from the Field, draws upon her experience working among Amish and Mennonite dairy farmers of central Pennsylvania. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous journals, including Philadelphia Stories, Philadelphia Poets, The Schuylkill Valley Journal of the Arts, Nimrod, Potomac Review and Harrington Lesbian Literay Quarterly.

Concerning the book, Henry Hart, the Mildred and J.B. Hickman Professor of Humanities at the College, writes, “M. Frost brings to poetry the unique perspective of a veterinary doctor who has worked with farm animals as well as cats and dogs. Her down-to-earth knowledge of how bodies work or don’t work, and her experience as a healer, gives her poetry a visceral freshness.”

Other reviewers have been equally impressed. “What M. Frost knows about cows, literally from the inside, delivers a startling, exhilarating expansion of our sense of the universe. And that’s just the beginning of what these supple poems have to offer,” explains Betsy Davis, professor at the California College of the Arts. The editor of the Schuylkill Valley Journal of the Arts, Kelley Jean White, says of the collection: “The patient bovines of Cow Poetry have much to teach us about being human. ... As topical as mad cow disease and anthrax, M. Frost makes science sing, from microbes and red blood cell membranes to graffiti on the moon.”

Upon graduation from the College, Davis received the Borish Prize given by the department of English. Cow Poetry will be published by Finishing Line Press.

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