Lamp of the Body

by Maggie Smith

Overview

"Here in Maggie Smith’s first book we encounter a voice that is spare, confident, and precise. Her images click into place, and the movement of each poem is deft, muscular, taut. These are poems we trust, poems that ask hard questions while at the same time convincing us of the magic in the world. Smith’s voice is reserved, yet she carries her world forward in her teeth, so to speak. There’s wisdom and acceptance in many of the poems, coupled with a willingness to utter what she does not understand, a recognition 'that worse happens to better than I.' She embraces the mystery. There’s a kinship with the Ohio landscape, but also the recognition that 'darkness ploughs its furrows here.' These are poems that do not flinch in the face of grief while at the same time they do not give into formulas that either comfort or accuse. I admire the courage and the control, the gorgeous turns, the leaps she takes in the poems while keeping the center of each poem intact. These are poems that do not wobble; the voice is confident and secure, the authority claimed, and the darkness met head on—'mealy, and bitter' but as she writes in 'The Poem Speaks to Danger': 'I am the mouth/that can hold more . . . the globe // of some new, ready fruit.' This is a book that delights, intrigues, and instructs. A wonderful debut."

—Carol Potter

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781888996883
Publisher:	Red Hen Press
Publication date:	08/01/2005
Pages:	72
Sales rank:	640,761
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Maggie Smith is the award-winning author of Good Bones, her poem that went viral in 2016. She's the New York Times bestselling writer of her memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, and nationally bestselling books, Keep Moving and Goldenrod. The distinguished poet, Maggie Smith, is also an editor and teacher. She has received numerous excellence awards including two Academy of American Poets Prizes, a Pushcart Prize, and several fellowships. Smith's poetry has been widely published, appearing in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Best American Poetry, and more. Learn more about Maggie Smith's writing on our podcast.