All this is contained within the pages of this elegant book of poetry by Elizabeth Alberda. This sacred poetry states that nature is the closest reflection that we can have of the heavenly realms, the closest we can come to the divine. It speaks to us if we can see and hear and allow it. It is difficult to embrace miracles, but they are here every day in nature. Nature is the greatest healing force. We see and hear the beating heart of the earth, the animals and the whales and dolphins who bring the song of love to our planet. The whales are the carriers of emerald green light, singing the oceans' love songs. Reading Elizabeth Alberda's poetry is a way to drink light and feel dazzled, as well as feel exquisitely nourished, having imbibed an elixir of words that make a feast for the soul. Some part of that feast is sublimely playful, some heartbreaking, but all proof she has embodied the life story of this holy Earth, as her most cherished beloved One. Alberda is a poet of the world behind the world, and the world within the world. She calls her collection, The Emerald Word, and includes poems about the Emerald World, and the Queen of that World, thus creating a dance between matter and words, green stone and the magic etched from that stone, together forming a paean of praise. Welcome to the work of someone who does language like no other: Elizabeth C. Alberda.~ Peggy Rubin