Earth Elegy: New and Selected Poems
These sensuous, transcendent poems explore how the concrete drama of nature's particulars can become the luminous medium through which earthly mysteries are revealed. Clumps of autumn mud, the tough root of an iris, or the pure music of birdsong all focus the poet's prayerful attention on the here and now, "the moment/ full of its own juice, sweet/ beyond tally or trace." Yet it is in the glory of the world's richness wherein lie the seeds of its destruction. Gibson reflects on how the earth is mercilessly "pumiced by sun by salts and chemical dusts/ and tools." Yet she finds redemption in her daily engagement with nature, to which she brings nothing but "a wild solitude in the smoke/ I please to call my soul." These elegantly observed poems, composed with attention to the music of language, are gravid with wisdom. Recommended for large collections of contemporary poetry.?Christine Stenstrom, Brooklyn P.L.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.