Post by shayepoet on Jun 4, 2008 18:17:19 GMT 2
What if your mother
Judith Arcana
"Lyric, varied, funny, moving, full of lively stories and authentic voices …. this book
will change the definition of political poetry."
– Annie Finch
Sample poem:
Snow, Fall
That one time you hit the baby, that one time
out on the street when the bus was so late
and then didn't come and the snow
started falling; that time you lifted all
your food in bags, paper handles dampening
and she kept holding onto your leg, pulling
your coat and you couldn't carry her too
while the flakes came thick and wet and faster.
That’s the time you remember, not all
the times you didn't, all those times when
you didn't hit the baby, times you both giggled
rolled in the grass naked of anger and fear
while the teddy bear and plastic chicken
slept on top of the rackety wooden dog
without fighting. Their toy allegory is nothing
compared to that time you saw her small face
inside the wool scarf, her wide open eyes surprised
at the slap under the hat with blue ear flaps;
you remember that time, sharp points on every flake, falling.
Reviews for What if your mother:
"This inspired collection … covers the gamut of reproductive issues from mothering to miscarriages and women’s bodies to babies…delivered by a true poet...."
-- Conscience
This book … is about the reality of women’s lives, as daughters, lovers, mothers, and women who choose not to be mothers …. the beauty, the pain, the tragedy, the joy and the power...."
-- Network for Reproductive Options, Newsletter
"Arcana's poems are maps of interior psychological and physiological journeys .... [they meet] the poetic challenge of naming the unnamed experience with bold lyricism, passion, and creative imagery...."
-- Affilia
"Judith Arcana's .... words speak the clear, bloody truth of women's fight for reproductive freedom .... taking readers ... on a journey through ... the unspoken and the unspeakable ... the real and the inevitable .... tell[ing] the real story about mothering, not the Hallmark version...."
-- Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering
".... bold mix of prose and poetry that gives voice, voices, to all sides .... Arcana aims to be useful, and, in doing so, does not limit her scope to abortion, but entwines it with motherhood, poverty, fertility or barrenness, love, fear, desire, and obedience.... [There is] no one conclusion, except the importance of choice....The voices in this book – striking, direct, real – offer rich possibilities for the solitary reader as well as for an audience...."
-- Calyx
"What if your mother ... grapples honestly and intensely with complexity in our reproductive lives. It is broad and generous in its scope moving from the 1950s through the 1990s .... filled with the voices of many women demonstrating Arcana’s power and wisdom as a poet...."
-- Moondance
"Read Judith Arcana’s book for a lived and heart-felt discussion …. She captures the voices of real women and speaks with compassion …. sit down and have the complete experience. You will thank the author for her acutely powerful reporting. This is art that matters...."
-- Bridges
".... has the rare quality of being moving, artful and important all at the same time. It’s the kind of work all writers strive for and Arcana’s accomplishment here is tremendous....”
-- Portland Alliance
About the author:
Judith Arcana’s most recent book is the poetry collection What if your mother (2005); her newest publications are a five-poem folded broadside and a chapbook envelope, Fresh Poetry. Among her prose books is Grace Paley’s Life Stories, A Literary Biography. Her poems, stories and essays have been published in journals and anthologies for more than thirty years. A native of the Great Lakes region, she lives now in the Pacific Northwest.
Website: juditharcana.com
ISBN I - 887344 - II - X, 92 pages, $15.00
Chicory Blue Press, Paper
[glow=teal,2,300]BUY HERE, BUY NOW:[/glow]
Chicory Blue Press: chicorybluepress.com/mother.html
Powells: tinyurl.com/683qcd
Amazon: tinyurl.com/683bau