Digging Up My Bones

A book review

Sorry I haven’t committed bloggery in a while, but I had a minor stroke in September, and I’ve been concentrating on recovery.

Digging Up My Bones is a poetry anthology by Gwyndyn Alexander.  It’s a marvelous collection of powerefully poignant poems, on subjects as diverse as dysfunctional families, romance, sealioning, Greek mythology and feminism.  I seriously believe my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will read some of these poems in their high school English classes.  If you’re planning to have smart descendents, invest in this book so they’ll have the original at home.  It will impress their teacher.

“Gwyndyn Alexander, is one of the essential poets of our generation. Her poems strike deeply into the heart of the pain and joy of being a woman in a patriarchal society, her work speak truth to power in a way that only her heartfelt and stunningly crafted poems can do”

My favorite thus far is “Seasons of You (For Jonathan),” which is a love poem Ms. Alexander wrote for her husband.

You’re walking through the storm,

laughing,
cloaked in rain.
Droplets bead on your hair
crowning you with diamonds.
Late night conversation,
and your words
fall in my mind like seeds.
Ideas bloom amid strange growth,
and I am wrapped in your
verdant intellect.
Air moves across your skin,
raising the shivers.
Even the wind
wants to caress you.
You lounge by the hearth,
moving shadows painting your face.
You stretch like a sated cat,
your eyes full of fire.

Because this book is published by B Cubed Press, naturally there are some political poems.  Everything feminist is at least slightly political, when written by a woman of intellect, but “A Consevative Prayer,” (excerpt below), “Democracy Dies in Silence,” and “The Alt Right to Bear Arms are overtly political.

Republican Jesus,
save us from liberals,
bless our sacred guns,
protect us from regulations
we pray.
Republican Mary,
Lady of Gerrymandering,
hear our prayers.
Give us this day
our daily kickback
from the NRA.

Disclaimer: I am not entirely a disinterested party.  I have had one story, the Darrell-nominated “As Prophesied of Old, and one song “Donald, Where’s Your Taxes?” published by B Cubed Press, and I used to proofread for them when my brain synapses synapted better.

At any rate, if you like poetry or feminist thought, I recommend this book.  You don’t need a Ph. D. in literature to understand or appreciate these poems.