I do not know how I have managed to live my life to this point without reading Marie Howe’s poetry. Thank goodness for my poetry workshop this semester that made it part of my reading list. (Marie Howe received the Pulitzer Prize for her New and Selected Poems earlier this year.)
How can I even describe this to you?
Her poetry is spare, but not terse.
Her images are so clear without being commonplace.
She writes strong narrative arcs that still manage to turn in unexpected ways.
Her style is incredibly accessible, even for those who don’t usually turn to poetry.
The opening poem, Prologue, ends with these lines, “I came to the edge / and I did not know the way.”
Exactly.
MY RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
READ IT IF: You want to read some deeply spiritual, real, raw, narrative poetry.
STEER CLEAR IF: Your brain is already spinning like a herd of wildebeests and visionary poetry would just complicate things.