In Growing Gills , poet Kassi Wilson draws upon her childhood experience as a bright-eyed girl, in her swimsuit from sunup to sundown, playing in the lake steps from her home. Gills is a metaphor for breathing. Water becomes a mystical realm for exploration. Kassi's poems take you on a voyage searching through the world's deep mysteries, a world still wild and beautiful. Her poems guide readers to the waters of a pond, a river, and the vast ocean. A journey of transformation unfolds in this collection of poems as readers leave behind the shoreline and dive deep. Growing Gills is a collection of poems guiding readers on a transformational journey. Poems explore the realm of water and the vast ocean as a metaphor for knowing our relationship to the world. Ocean is mystery, so is the world. Readers will connect with their inner desires and fuller potential as they are led from the familiarity of the shoreline to imagine, ponder, and be bold in discovering within the water's realm a deeper experience of life. Poems guide readers to the waters of a pond, river, and the vast ocean. A mystical sea dive unfolds in New Gills as the force of tidal waves draws us towards the depths. Through the lens of wonder we remember again the world is wildly beautiful and we belong to its deepest mysteries.