The Laugh We Make When We Fall (The Backwaters Prize in Poetry)
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- Synopsis
- In Susan Firer&’s The Laugh We Make When We Fall, peonies; snow drops, &“with all their survivor ecstasies&”; &“windy caravans of lilacs&”; and &“Dali Lama-robed &“ daylilies act as magnets to attract history—personal and historical—myths, language, facts, love, gratitude, prayers, beauty, and &”all the colors of death and sex.&” Family oddities appear in this collection, as well as Catholic rituals, saints, and ghost poets. Always ghost poets: Whitman, Neruda, Thoreau, and Saint Francis. In these poems, &“toads/ pull their finished skins off/ delicately as evening gloves,&” and in &“Birds&” you can look into an injured bird&’s neck and see &“everywhere it had ever flown…&” see &“insects, & seeds, & amphibians,/ & even a piece or two of snake.&” Using list poems, exploded elemental odes, lyrics, and American sonnets, Firer writes her own survivor ecstasies: &“I was buried under/deaths: mother&’s, father&’s, sisters&’ deaths wrapped me/ like surgical wrap. And who and where would I be/ when all their gauzy deaths were removed?&” In poem after poem in this collection, Firer begins to explore and to answer that question. This collection is "a wild generosity of spirit," creating an effect that is "sacramental."
- Copyright:
- 1996
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Publisher Quality
- Book Size:
- 67 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9781496233165
- Related ISBNs:
- 9781496225986
- Publisher:
- The Backwaters Press
- Date of Addition:
- 02/22/22
- Copyrighted By:
- the University of Nebraska
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Poetry, Literature and Fiction
- Submitted By:
- Bookshare Staff
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.