When Whales Went Back to the Water

"What gorgeous magic Baird excavates from human circumstance. Rich with celebration, grief, and a touch of science, When Whales Went Back to the Water navigates a labyrinth of survivals. 'You will / grow to be a wild thing,' Baird promises. And isn’t that the gift we each most desire?" Jeanann Verlee, author of PREY and others

“When Whales Went Back to the Water sings and pushes language with its uncanny imagery, unexpected word choices and combinations, and play with spacing and breath. With its linguistic lifts, Baird’s collection shows the power of free verse to convey lyric beauty.” Jenna Butler, author of Revery: A Year of Bees

"When Whales Went Back to the Water deftly moves between microscopic, geological, and intimate perspectives to show how we are 'animal[s] made of other animals'—and the grief and belonging that entails. Amidst housefires, environmental decline, domestic abuse, the word 'trauma' graffitied on a garbage bin, Baird conjures hard-earned awe." —Adèle Barclay, author of Renaissance Normcore