One Red Eye: Poems

by Kirsten Dierking

"In reading these poems, we experience beauty-paradoxically-as well as come to understand the complexity of the crime, its aftermath, and the relief and joy of recovery."—Roseann Lloyd Perhaps the first full-length work of its kind, One Red Eye is an unexpected book, an intimate story of violence and survival, rape and re-birth, told in verse. In concise, candid, and understated poems, Dierking shares the brutal truth of her own rape experience, while at the same time, demonstrating the possibility of spiritual recovery from sexual assault. This is the story of a life brought to a disasterous standstill, and the subsequent acts of common kindness that allow the author to recapture hope, and move into a changed, but salvageable future. Tough and articulate, One Red Eye defies the silence and guilt that so often surrounds the crime of rape. I Might Have Dreamed This For a short time after
the rape, I found I could move things. Energy birds
swarmed from my brain. With a witch's sense
of abandoned physics, I set dolls rolling.
Back and forth. Like a breathing sound. Using only my night-powered
eyes, I pushed the lamp to the dresser's edge.
I buried the mirrors in avalanches of freshly
laundered underpants. I never slept. I did all these things
lying down. Kirsten Dierking received a bachelor's degree in International Affairs and History from the University of Colorado, and a Master's degree in Creative Writing from Hamline University. Her writing has appeared in Sing Heavenly Muse, ArtWord Quarterly, Water-Stone , and Xanadu . She lives with her husband in Saint Paul, Minnesota. This is her first published collection.

Genres: Poetry, Memoir

72 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2001

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thematic and narrative poetry tends to cause me to backpedal with fervor, since it often comes across as overly smug, self-conscious, or didactic. Dierking's work here is none of those things. Instead, she deftly (and, weirdly, beautifully) comes to grips with sexual assault in a way that allows her to re-define it on her terms and even, it seems, come to a sort of closure through it.
Not knowing of the over-arching theme, when I bought it, I came into "Eye" blind, and found the pattern of disturbing but resurrective verse a bit of a surprise (I always skip the intros until the end). Outstanding.

[❀ Tina ❀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 *

[Laura (booksnob) · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book of poetry detailing the author's rape in college and the aftermath. This is truly a great book of poems. I highly recommend.