I Carry You, by Anna Eaton-Merkle

Poetry, chapbook, 24 pages, from Bottlecap Features. I Carry You is a gentle unfolding of moments—some fleeting, some foundational—that mark a life lived in deep relationships. Through spare, evocative language, Anna Eaton-Merkle writes of motherhood, memory, and the quiet rituals that connect generations. From the hush of a 3 a.m. feeding to the echo of a child’s fall on a summer road, these poems honor the weight and wonder of caregiving. Each piece reads like a kept letter or a whispered prayer, rooted in the texture of daily life. This collection doesn’t try to shout. Instead, it leans close. There is a sense of breath in these pages, of space left open for the reader to remember their own scar, their own lullaby, their own person they once carried—or who once carried them. I Carry You holds a tender kind of knowing, the kind passed down through hands and stories, stitched into the seams of ordinary days. Anna Eaton-Merkle is a poet, educator, and lifelong storyteller. She recently retired after 35 years of teaching English and reading to middle and high school students. Her writing explores themes of motherhood, memory, and the subtle shifts of daily life, often grounded in personal history and familial connection. Anna holds a master’s degree in Creative Writing with a poetry emphasis and a doctorate in Education, where her research focused on how generative AI is shaping the teaching of English. She lives in Idaho with her husband and their very spoiled labradoodle. In addition to writing poetry and lyric essays, Anna enjoys travel, painting, and spending time outdoors.