Wild Brides

Book excerpt: Shhh Shhh the lights are out and the little suspicion sleeps and dreams and whimpers in its crib Its tongue is ugly and blue She climbs She climbs in silence and fury spinning groggy in darkness and wind Look her left hand bears for you sweetly a gift of lightning and lillies to please you Though O Tonight in her right hanf she has invented gravity - from Woman Kills Sweetheart With Bowling Ball This first collection of poems is an extraordinary book by an authentic young poet. Laura Kasischke's work is powerful in its vision, its memorable persona, its haunting music. The imaginative details in these poems throw the reader off-balance with their strange blend of savagery and sweetness, tragedy and joy. Here is a poet who is able to evoke the mysteries of folklore and life both sadly and wisely, and to combine the ancient and the contemporary with an eerie intensity. The result is a brilliant book of poems full of dark and stunning images that cannot be comfortably forgotten.