The Mother House by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin (Wake Forest University Press, 2020). Still Life by Ciaran Carson (Wake Forest University Press, 2020). Since the Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed so many aspects of our lives, it stands to … Read More
Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry: Poems by John Murillo (Four-Way Books, 2020). Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry: Poems, John Murillo’s second collection, is constructed in the vein of a craft-book, and nearly every poem can be read on several levels—as literary criticism, … Read More
The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A Memoir by Wayétu Moore (Graywolf Press, 2020). The pages of the immensely talented Wayétu Moore’s memoir The Dragons, the Giant, the Women are resonant with absence. “We are told that all … Read More
Ten till showtime this old friend of yours takes us backstage to meet the band and strum a few verses, hoping to stall till a crowd shows up, and in his hat and boots, with his big-buckled jeans and … Read More
in memory of my student, 2000-2019 After last spring’s surprise grackle attack and the autumn squirrels’ burgling acrobatics I almost didn’t fill the feeders this year. They came back, the heavy-set doves content to peck what … Read More
Sometimes I think the gods want something else. Enough with the libations, they might cry (if it weren’t for the prohibition on two-way speech). Don’t gore that ox on my account! Out my office window is a red … Read More
Open me. Split me down the seam that stretches just above my collar bones to my navel and down to the seam of my hem. Divide me and you will see how everything is in me—how I made a … Read More
On a warm spring that gorged on soil, spewed tornadoes like seeds, I painted my nails blue, the color of Alice’s dress, and cycled at night to the older man’s house by the seminary. This man professed to love … Read More