“Just like a blossoming flower needs to be pollinated, so does the female psyche,” Posner writes in this inspirational collection of verse, insights, and photography. Her aim: to nourish contemporary women with “passages,” or short poems, that encourage mindfulness, the embrace of everyday moments and pleasures, and celebration of the gains women have made in society since the 1960s--and the courage it still takes to keep them and secure more. The thread tying Aspire together is Posner’s championing of sisterhood, as in the poem “On Sisterhood,” in which she cheers the “rigid, unwavering goodness” and “wholesome nobility” of an unidentified woman—or perhaps of womanhood itself.

That same key poem notes, one of several dozen, declares that this woman, bound to the author by sisterhood, will “elect and choose with fervor /and stand where it suits you, planting your feet in rich soil.” These lines encapsulate Posner’s chief themes and concerns: the power of being intentional, of being “fierce” and “brave” with purpose (as the poem “Becoming Free From Worry” urges), and of cultivating a space of one’s own in life in soil enriched by the other women also making such bold choices.

The suggestion of a connection to nature runs through the book, as Posner reflects on the “benediction found in the light of a setting sun” and likens the spiritual growth of a soul to the “promise of the new springtide.” Her aspirations for women are expressed mostly in spiritual rather than social or political terms—she declares herself “in service to God”—and on occasion she turns playful, as in a lark of a poem about daylight savings time. The photos illustrating the verses feel less original than Posner’s words, which will prove most potent to readers already curious about mindfulness practice and spiritual sisterhood.

Takeaway: These accessible inspirational poems celebrate contemporary women while encouraging mindfulness, gratitude, and ferocity.

Great for fans of: Morgan Harper Nichols’s All Along You Were Blooming, Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby R Wilson’s Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: B
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A