Stacy Szymaszek's 'Hart Island'
In Hart Island, there are whispers of people who lie just below perception, muttering multivocal protests of how, based on their status in life, they are placed away and forgotten, invisible shoulders upon which the city (or the poetry world) rests. Not an anxiety of influence, but a murmuring of both injustice and desire to connect, for recognition — for people to either stand at the grave and acknowledge or appreciate, no matter who a person might be or might have been.
September picks: Duplan, Szymaszek, and Bartlett
Kenna O'Rourke
2016 titles from Anaïs Duplan, Stacy Szymaszek, and Sarah Bartlett reviewed in brief this month.
Three great 2016 titles from women poets reviewed in brief this month.