Title: Fabulous beast : poems /
Authors: Gutowski, Sarah Kain,
Year: 2019
Subjects: Women Poetry.; Mothers Poetry; Mothers; Women
Abstract: The poems in Fabulous Beast explore what it means to be a woman divided between biology, ambition, and desire. By reimagining the traditional forms of fable, fairy tale, and myth, Fabulous Beast contends with decisions faced by women who no longer fit neatly in traditional roles and so must construct new ones.
Contents: The cicadas chirr in the dark trees -- I. The sow -- The mother moves in the dark -- The mother cannot ask for what she needs -- The mother shifts her shape -- The mother grows tired of excuses -- The stories our mothers use against us -- The mother makes time for herself -- Some things the mother cannot change -- The stories our mothers teach us -- The threats our mothers pose -- The mistakes our mothers make -- What our mothers know as love -- The reason our mothers can't help us -- Our mothers are children, too -- What loves us also kills us -- Why a mother doesn't fight back -- Where have we taken our husbands and fathers? -- Why our mothers panic -- Why our mothers never age -- How our mothers deal with pain -- Why our mothers wish us to be quiet -- How our mothers keep moving -- What our mothers won't name -- How our mothers recognize their limits -- II. The woman with the frog tongue -- She leaves home (absention-- She is warned, and ignores the warning (interdiction and violation) -- Mama, what is regret? -- Mama, how does the woman with the frog tongue eat? -- She cultivates a harvest she cannot reap (trickery and deception) -- She collects objects that are not hers (villainy) -- She discovers what she desires (lack) -- Mama, where are their parents? -- The children have a request (mediation) -- She grows a second heart (struggle and branding) -- She removes the stitches (victory and liquidation) -- The children find her sleeping (return and unrecognized arrival) -- Mama, couldn't she eat a fly? (because she has a frog tongue) -- How will this story end? -- Lightning (transfiguration and punishment) -- Love (transfiguration and wedding) -- Livestock (transfiguration) -- III. Minor gods -- A woman -- A woman, split -- A woman, tempted -- A woman, culpable -- A woman, struggling -- A woman, addressing doubt -- A woman, wrong -- A woman, reflecting -- A woman, responsible-- A man and woman, repairing -- She says, Mama, I feel two beats on each side of me.