SCIENCE SAYS YES, poetry by Lynn McGee
Publication Date: January 15, 2025
Paperback, 80 pages
ISBN: 978-1-956782-90-5
Lynn McGee writes from life’s precipice, an evocative space of magnitude hidden in the everyday. She offers work that lives in nuance, highlighting the visceral and profound subtleties of our existence through the lens of poetry and science. In her collection Science Says Yes she addresses human empathy and resilience in relation to the natural world, simultaneously highlighting our assumed limitations and the limitless possibility for collective growth. McGee invites readers to explore how technology mirrors our shortcomings: “AI thrives despite its flaws. / It carries on – like any monarch, any god / dogged by unregulated lust, hubris, / greed. / And then there are the humans, / eaten by their children.” This collection is rooted in fascinating juxtaposition that repeatedly asks readers to question our simulated isolation and the reaches of our capacity for kindness towards ourselves and our environment: “That’s the kind of slow we need, the kind that puts / the brakes on pesticides surging into waterways…We shave paths across the earth. I catch myself / accelerating, alongside everyone else.” It’s the type of resonant work that reminds us that our power lives in loving the stranger, the beast, and the other within ourselves and the outside world. A world that beacons us to begin again, to find the answers to humanity's biggest challenges in minute miracles. It’s a refreshing reflection on power and progress that asks us to truly witness our magnitude, our capacity to evolve in a landscape where Science Says Yes.
Praise for Lynn McGee & Science Says Yes
In Science Says Yes, Lynn McGee is at the height of her poetic powers in this—her third full-length collection. These taut narrative poems capture what it’s like to be a woman in the 2020s as she navigates the news and several impending apocalypses. These wise poems by McGee understand the crises we are facing as a country and the world yet they embody what Vaclav Havel said best —“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” McGee never shies away from reality but pays attention to the small acts of compassion and community that may get us though. In “The Beauty of What Happens When Nothing Happens,” she writes, “What solace — the ordinary, the beautiful / unremarkable. // What great fortune, to glide through our days, / buffered by its presence.” These are poems that will help me get through the next four years.
—Jennifer Franklin, author of If Some God Shakes Your House (Four Way Books, 2023)
Science Says Yes vividly renders the anxious spectacle of daily life in a chaotic, warming world. Assailed by news headlines of human-made threats—zombie wildfires, encroaching space junk, the pervasive irritant of artificial intelligence—McGee finds solace and delight in the everyday wonder of seedless grapes, luxurious sunscreen, and the glossy wings of a common bird. She exposes the raw, entangled threads of grief and love, the mysterious workings of childhood memories, and other conditions for which science says we are hardwired. These poems will make you feel less lonely and disconnected. And as scientists have shown, that’s good for your brain.
—Lisa H. Sideris, Professor of Environmental Studies and Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. Author of Consecrating Science: Wonder, Knowledge, and the Natural World
About the Author
Lynn McGee is the author of Science Says Yes and Tracks, both with Broadstone Books, as well as Sober Cooking (Spuyten Duyvil Press), and two award-winning poetry chapbooks: Heirloom Bulldog (Bright Hill Press) and Bonanza (Slapering Hol Press). Her poems have been published widely in journals and anthologies. She is co-author with José Pelauz of the children’s book Starting Over in Sunset Park (Tilbury House Press). Lynn earned an MFA in Poetry at Columbia University School of the Arts and taught in private and public colleges, secondary schools, and literacy programs before becoming a communications manager at Borough of Manhattan Community College, The City University of New York. For more information, visit
Publication Date: January 15, 2025
Paperback, 80 pages
ISBN: 978-1-956782-90-5
Lynn McGee writes from life’s precipice, an evocative space of magnitude hidden in the everyday. She offers work that lives in nuance, highlighting the visceral and profound subtleties of our existence through the lens of poetry and science. In her collection Science Says Yes she addresses human empathy and resilience in relation to the natural world, simultaneously highlighting our assumed limitations and the limitless possibility for collective growth. McGee invites readers to explore how technology mirrors our shortcomings: “AI thrives despite its flaws. / It carries on – like any monarch, any god / dogged by unregulated lust, hubris, / greed. / And then there are the humans, / eaten by their children.” This collection is rooted in fascinating juxtaposition that repeatedly asks readers to question our simulated isolation and the reaches of our capacity for kindness towards ourselves and our environment: “That’s the kind of slow we need, the kind that puts / the brakes on pesticides surging into waterways…We shave paths across the earth. I catch myself / accelerating, alongside everyone else.” It’s the type of resonant work that reminds us that our power lives in loving the stranger, the beast, and the other within ourselves and the outside world. A world that beacons us to begin again, to find the answers to humanity's biggest challenges in minute miracles. It’s a refreshing reflection on power and progress that asks us to truly witness our magnitude, our capacity to evolve in a landscape where Science Says Yes.
Praise for Lynn McGee & Science Says Yes
In Science Says Yes, Lynn McGee is at the height of her poetic powers in this—her third full-length collection. These taut narrative poems capture what it’s like to be a woman in the 2020s as she navigates the news and several impending apocalypses. These wise poems by McGee understand the crises we are facing as a country and the world yet they embody what Vaclav Havel said best —“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” McGee never shies away from reality but pays attention to the small acts of compassion and community that may get us though. In “The Beauty of What Happens When Nothing Happens,” she writes, “What solace — the ordinary, the beautiful / unremarkable. // What great fortune, to glide through our days, / buffered by its presence.” These are poems that will help me get through the next four years.
—Jennifer Franklin, author of If Some God Shakes Your House (Four Way Books, 2023)
Science Says Yes vividly renders the anxious spectacle of daily life in a chaotic, warming world. Assailed by news headlines of human-made threats—zombie wildfires, encroaching space junk, the pervasive irritant of artificial intelligence—McGee finds solace and delight in the everyday wonder of seedless grapes, luxurious sunscreen, and the glossy wings of a common bird. She exposes the raw, entangled threads of grief and love, the mysterious workings of childhood memories, and other conditions for which science says we are hardwired. These poems will make you feel less lonely and disconnected. And as scientists have shown, that’s good for your brain.
—Lisa H. Sideris, Professor of Environmental Studies and Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. Author of Consecrating Science: Wonder, Knowledge, and the Natural World
About the Author
Lynn McGee is the author of Science Says Yes and Tracks, both with Broadstone Books, as well as Sober Cooking (Spuyten Duyvil Press), and two award-winning poetry chapbooks: Heirloom Bulldog (Bright Hill Press) and Bonanza (Slapering Hol Press). Her poems have been published widely in journals and anthologies. She is co-author with José Pelauz of the children’s book Starting Over in Sunset Park (Tilbury House Press). Lynn earned an MFA in Poetry at Columbia University School of the Arts and taught in private and public colleges, secondary schools, and literacy programs before becoming a communications manager at Borough of Manhattan Community College, The City University of New York. For more information, visit
Publication Date: January 15, 2025
Paperback, 80 pages
ISBN: 978-1-956782-90-5
Lynn McGee writes from life’s precipice, an evocative space of magnitude hidden in the everyday. She offers work that lives in nuance, highlighting the visceral and profound subtleties of our existence through the lens of poetry and science. In her collection Science Says Yes she addresses human empathy and resilience in relation to the natural world, simultaneously highlighting our assumed limitations and the limitless possibility for collective growth. McGee invites readers to explore how technology mirrors our shortcomings: “AI thrives despite its flaws. / It carries on – like any monarch, any god / dogged by unregulated lust, hubris, / greed. / And then there are the humans, / eaten by their children.” This collection is rooted in fascinating juxtaposition that repeatedly asks readers to question our simulated isolation and the reaches of our capacity for kindness towards ourselves and our environment: “That’s the kind of slow we need, the kind that puts / the brakes on pesticides surging into waterways…We shave paths across the earth. I catch myself / accelerating, alongside everyone else.” It’s the type of resonant work that reminds us that our power lives in loving the stranger, the beast, and the other within ourselves and the outside world. A world that beacons us to begin again, to find the answers to humanity's biggest challenges in minute miracles. It’s a refreshing reflection on power and progress that asks us to truly witness our magnitude, our capacity to evolve in a landscape where Science Says Yes.
Praise for Lynn McGee & Science Says Yes
In Science Says Yes, Lynn McGee is at the height of her poetic powers in this—her third full-length collection. These taut narrative poems capture what it’s like to be a woman in the 2020s as she navigates the news and several impending apocalypses. These wise poems by McGee understand the crises we are facing as a country and the world yet they embody what Vaclav Havel said best —“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” McGee never shies away from reality but pays attention to the small acts of compassion and community that may get us though. In “The Beauty of What Happens When Nothing Happens,” she writes, “What solace — the ordinary, the beautiful / unremarkable. // What great fortune, to glide through our days, / buffered by its presence.” These are poems that will help me get through the next four years.
—Jennifer Franklin, author of If Some God Shakes Your House (Four Way Books, 2023)
Science Says Yes vividly renders the anxious spectacle of daily life in a chaotic, warming world. Assailed by news headlines of human-made threats—zombie wildfires, encroaching space junk, the pervasive irritant of artificial intelligence—McGee finds solace and delight in the everyday wonder of seedless grapes, luxurious sunscreen, and the glossy wings of a common bird. She exposes the raw, entangled threads of grief and love, the mysterious workings of childhood memories, and other conditions for which science says we are hardwired. These poems will make you feel less lonely and disconnected. And as scientists have shown, that’s good for your brain.
—Lisa H. Sideris, Professor of Environmental Studies and Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. Author of Consecrating Science: Wonder, Knowledge, and the Natural World
About the Author
Lynn McGee is the author of Science Says Yes and Tracks, both with Broadstone Books, as well as Sober Cooking (Spuyten Duyvil Press), and two award-winning poetry chapbooks: Heirloom Bulldog (Bright Hill Press) and Bonanza (Slapering Hol Press). Her poems have been published widely in journals and anthologies. She is co-author with José Pelauz of the children’s book Starting Over in Sunset Park (Tilbury House Press). Lynn earned an MFA in Poetry at Columbia University School of the Arts and taught in private and public colleges, secondary schools, and literacy programs before becoming a communications manager at Borough of Manhattan Community College, The City University of New York. For more information, visit