Aquiline

by Jane Joritz-Nakagawa

The centerpiece of this wonderful book is the long poem "Evil Nature," an account of loss so powerful it's like sinking into "beautiful quicksand." Something had happened to make the world seem fraudulent and "swimming at sea/birds bite irresponsibly at our hands." The wound will not be healed, and the woman for whom a passing train is "a smudge in the window" hears the "hiss of an oven with a dead bird in it." There are few poets who can render emotion with such ferocity and intelligence. Despite all that is said about the materiality of language and limits of subjectivity, life will have its way with us.

65 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Originally from the US, poet and activist Jane Joritz-Nakagawa is now based in central Japan. Her poems and essays have appeared widely in the international small presses. Her first poetry book, Skin Museum, was published in 2006; her second poetry collection, Aquiline, in the northern Fall of 2007. She works as an associate professor at a Japanese national university of education, where she teaches courses in American poetry, pedagogy, gender, and intercultural studies.