How I spent my snow day

For my Dumanis class, I have been reading Olena Kalytiak Davis' And Her Soul Out Of Nothing. To be honest, nothing we have previously read in the class has resonated with me. But this book is stunning.

Reading Davis' book has made me re realize how important the first poem of a book is. It should function as a map to the rest of the material. Davis opens her book with the poem A Few Words For The Visitor In The Parlor. She writes, Dear Visitor: You divide your age in two then square it by a dying mother. I am always gathering her up into my arms. Believe me, you never forget somebody that thin.

The poem opens up the book with a strong narrator who will spend the rest of the book defining an interior life where soul resides, grieving and living.

If you have not read it, I urge you to order it. It's one of the best poetry books I have read in quite some time.