Becoming Altar

In Kyla Houbolt’s rendering of the world, the goings-on of frogs, goats and chickens weigh just as heavily and with as much import as asking ourselves, “Does a civilized nation exist?” Becoming Altar weaves themes of fire, dreams, magic, and the need for shelter in poems where there is widespread confusion, in which even the Ancients are unable to recognize and understand the bigger picture. In turns existential and surreal, Houbolt reminds us that “maps are optional […] aren’t we all lost?” while also reminding us that we are “in the direct company/of everything alive.”
— David Harrison Horton, author of Model Answers and editor of Saginaw

READ a review online of Becoming Altar. Sample:

... Reviewing her book is like being in a painted canyon's landscape at sunrise. I could set the camera on delayed shutter and throw it up and whenever wherever it releases, when it lands, it will have captured something beautiful. I don’t have to study the text and try to find an admirable line.
                   — Pearl Pirie in New Seaboard Review of Books (March 23, 2026)

Published by Subpress, 156 pp, 5.5" x 8.5"
ISBN: 9781734130041
Order HERE.

Mirror

I will continue to clench my jaw
I will continue to see
a horse in all things
I will not be able to ride the horse
it is wild
it knows better
than to take the bit

Kyla Houbolt is a poet and gardener living in North Carolina, USA.