Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair

by Marisca Pichette

When I left home I took only what I could carry...

What will you bring with you down the path, through the hills and into the woods? Fragments, stories, living things? Echoes of the past, promises for the future?

In fifty new and collected poems, Marisca Pichette celebrates myth, folklore, and memory. Her poems traverse landscapes both real and imagined, taking inherited tales and retelling them through a queer lens.
From dusk into the night and out again at dawn, her work offers you a magical journey in speculative verse.

Genres: Poetry, Fantasy, Horror

80 pages, Paperback

Published April 4, 2023

About the author

Marisca Pichette is an award-winning author of speculative fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Her debut collection of speculative verse, RIVERS IN YOUR SKIN, SIRENS IN YOUR HAIR, was nominated for the 2023 Bram Stoker and Elgin Awards. Their cli-fi novella, EVERY DARK CLOUD, is out now from Ghost Orchid Press. Marisca lives in Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Goran Lowie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of poems. It’s my favorite type of poetry—science fiction and fantasy, mostly free verse, mostly narrative. I have read the occassional Marisca Pichette poem in magazines, but this was the first time I read some of her poems together. I found it to be a rewarding experience.

“Nobyl”, a wonderful post-apocalyptic (almost solarpunk-feeling) poem about some people living in a new forest growing over a destroyed city. Wonderful, quickly established setting.

“For a place in the family of things”, a three-parter on some primeval(?) water-based beings. Has just the right amount of creepy mystery to keep me intrigued, and wanting for more.

“Paper boats”, containing the title line, with such wonderful imagery in short bursts, almost feeling like (more indirect) haiku from a strange creature’s diary.

“At the wedding of Death and Time”, great concept!

“Oddkin”, I’m not entirely sure I understood what this poem was about but it didn’t matter because I was enthralled by the images it created in my mind.

“vigil”- extinction nears.

Overall, while those specific poems I liked the most, there were almost no duds to think of. A more-than-solid collection.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the famous saying 'Don't judge a book by it' s cover' but in this case it is possible to do just that because cover is an important part of the book the poetry is inspired by the cover it flows through the verse. This interesting book of blank verse no rhyme. It has flow within but with out rhymes because all poems do not have to rhyme even though insisted that it is not possible to be poetry if does not. I always thought it was.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I know the author*

Brimming with subtle magic, this ethereal collection brings together folklore, fairytale, and myth, woven together with a modern lens and examined from fresh angles with each new turn. Tragic and powerful and with life blossoming on each page, Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair is a striking collection, interspersed with poems that reach out, grab you by the heart, and continue to echo beyond the final word.

[Nathaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is fantasy poetry DRIPPING with talent. I didn’t even understand all the poems, yet they managed to take my breath away. So much to say, so many weird descriptions that gave me chills. Plus the cover is absolutely stunning.

[Melissa]

A collection of free verse narrative speculative poems, nice combination of mythology, folklore, and author-generated stories, themes of memory, trauma, movement, discovery and loss. Particular favorites: "In parting," "What roots she has her own," "Paper boats," "The art of betraying others for food."

[Marisca Pichette · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is my hope that this little collection contains a poem to resonate with everyone. Themes cross rural and urban, queer, postcolonial, feminist, magical, and mundane. We all know the conventional Western fairy tales, but what happens when Cinderella passes on her shoes to her granddaughter? What’s the best recipe for Hansel and Gretel to cook the witch, or for Snow White to skin the Wolf? How did the horses feel when Phaeton drove them too high into the sky? And while we’ve heard plenty about witches in New England, what about their counterparts in the tropical south?

Divided into two parts, this collection meditates first on landscape and natural magic, giving voices to hills, valleys, and rivers. It searches for the spirit in all living things, and the stories we’ve forgotten to retell. While rooted in my homeland of New England, the enchantment I’ve found in these woods is applicable to all wild (and not so wild) places.

The second part of the collection takes a darker turn, meandering between shadows to find answers to trauma and injustice. These poems contemplate death, grieving, and defiance. Is there peace at the end? Maybe, but it is an uneasy peace—always in need of defending.

[Dyani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic, lyrical collection of poems of making and unmaking, of growth and decay, of death and stories undying. Mainly in narrative free verse, Marisca Pichette invites us into a series of spectacular vignettes that build into a powerful chorus. It's hard to identify which poems were my favorites, because they all opened new and interesting doors into wild places I want to return to over and over again.

That said, I keep thinking about:
Kitchen Garden--musing on growing up and passing/losing freedom,
Maid Stone--queer eco poetry at it's finest,
While Alice Sleeps in Wonderland--a view into Wonderland you've never seen before,
Iron, Glass, Slipper--another dance into fairyland and the legacy of trauma,
Victor II--which includes this line that's haunted me since I've read it-- "Birth is another type of murder./Never clean/Never quick"
correspondence--a nod to Emily Dickinson while haunting death himself,
The Art of Betraying Others for Food--Angela Carter and Kelly Link-esque exploration of fairy-tales and the feminine

...honestly I could go on and on. These poems are sharp little hauntings you'll want to return to. If you've enjoyed her work on its own in various magazines, having the collection as a whole allows you to see how her poems connect and resonate with each other. Anyone who enjoys queer fantastic poetry will find gems inside these pages. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Vera Kabushemeye · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Disclaimer: I was given a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)

This poetry collection did not disappoint.

In fact, it did so much more. Explaining just how hard this collection hit me is difficult. It’s breathtaking and soul-crushing and mesmerizing and really hard to describe beyond the awe I felt.

Not to say that there weren’t any poems that just went over my head. Some poems such as "She gathered up the dust" I still enjoyed―especially the start where the title becomes part of the poem and isn’t that just so beautiful? But―I didn’t get it.

To read my full review, check out my blog.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before my review, a disclaimer: I sorta, kinda know Marisca Pichette. We went to undergrad together and worked at the college's writing commons side-by-side. I bought this copy on my own, but I am disclosing an obvious bias on my part.

I would call this collection Creepy Cottegecore. The poetry has a focus on ambiance and mood rather than emotion - that is not to say that there is no emotion, just that it is not the focus. I felt like I was in a garden at night and was just a stone's throw away from a fairy party. My favorite poem in the collection is called "And" I think this collection will be perfect for anyone who loves the poems of Baudelaire (this is high praise from me) or anyone who wants to read something creepy but beautiful.

[Emery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely in love with this beautiful book. I found it at the library by chance and I'm so glad that I picked it up. I'm going to get a personal copy so that I can write some notes and thoughts in it. I started reading poetry because a newer friend of mine studied it and loves it, so they gave me some recommendations. This collection was the first collection I picked on my own and I'm so happy about it being my first choice.

There's so much beautiful imagery in the poems. The stories they tell are magical. I feel like I could sit and reread this collection many times. I've truly fallen in love with the words on the pages of this book.

[Louise Worthington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this hearty collection of speculative poetry - 115 pages long, and full of emotional range, from the tender (see Vigil), through to the nihilistic (see What roots she has her own). I hope this poet receives an award for this collection. It's stunning.

[Sally the Salamander · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ossuary At Ocean's End and for this meal we thank her are especially nice

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly gorgeous

[Madeline Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best poetry book I have read in a few years!!!

[H.V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In her first collection, Pichette draws broadly from history, science, fairy tales, myth, and other sources. Her poetry explores big questions about mortality, meaning, and monstrousness. She also interrogates how people define and reshape themselves across time and shifting identity. The forms Pichette uses include free verse, couplet, and other more experimental forms (e.g. “Killing whale”). Some poems even use two points of views (e.g. “Victor II” and “Huios: Phaeton’s Flight”) to show the same situation or event from different perspectives. This collection contains a balance of previously published and unpublished poetry, so those familiar with Pichette’s work will find many new poems here.

In the Unlocking Room my mother holds a quay.

Algae and barnacles drip between her fingers,

their watery strength collapsing under the weight of air.

Boats hang from her hair like marionettes;

she shakes her head and they swim past her face,

sails concealing her lips.

~ “In the Unlocking Room”

Pichette has a beautiful grasp of language and form. They balance the abstract and the very specific in the same poem through specific, grounding details. They also revel in poetry’s power to utilize paradox, especially when it comes to collapsing boundaries across time and space (e.g. “Kitchen Garden” and “Paper boats”) and between the narrator and the rest of the world (e.g. “Topsoil”). Their fluidity with word play and language elevates the artistry of this collection while adding additional layers of meaning and interpretation. Their carefully chosen words and gorgeous imagery create a contagious mood which radiates from the poem to the reader.

While we lived, we forgot

how lovely it was to die.

Enshrouded in our enfeebled home

we keep the promises

others made on our behalf.

~ “Windows for Regrets”
The two overarching sections, “Rivers” and “Sirens”, generate slightly different moods. The poems in “Rivers” flow like water, leaning into and engaging with natural processes (especially death) and carrying the reader along with them. The poems in “Sirens” lean more towards narrative and have a subtly sharper, darker edge.

my pockets, distended with exiles,

carry broken migrants from

worlds connected by dead things—

behind me the bridge widens

reflecting a screaming sky.

~ “Oddkin”

The ordering of the individual poems is also carefully considered. Poems are often in dialogue with each other, linked by similar themes, subjects, language. For example, the three sequential poems “At the wedding of Death and Time,” “At the funeral of Thought and Action,” and “At the birth of Song and Silence” have linked titles and position the reader as part of a collective “we” witnessing these humanized abstractions. Sometimes, the linking element is a word, such as “step” in “And it dries and dries” and the poem following it, “Mothers become stepmothers in fairy tales.” These subtle connections create continuity while also demonstrating Pichette’s versatility with language and its multiple meanings. As you read, the poems feel like part of a conversation or discussion, their order precisely chosen.

Many of the titles of Pichette’s poems give important framing context for the poem. Though you can still enjoy the beauty of her language without the context, I recommend readers look up the more specific titles if they don’t recognize the references.

Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair features poetry as fluid as rivers and as alluring as sirens. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in speculative poetry!

[Christina Pfeiffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like nature? Fairy tales? Fungi? This collection is for you then because holy Toledo.

Pichette writes in such a way that you feel like you are in a forest or a beautiful underwater fairy tale land, arms wide open, embracing the beauty around you… but with a little darkness thrown in. It’s also a bit erotic, “lie down on your stomach,/ giving your breasts to the earth/ and your back to me…” (Maid Stone).

Sky, Earth, water, fairy tales, myths, childhood stories, are all laid bare to evoke the feeling of oneness. And it’s a debut collection of poetry!

A HIGHLY RECOMMEND 4.5/5.