What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms, & Blessings by Joyce Sidman (review)

“We speak to send messages to the world,” says esteemed poet Sidman in her introduction to this collection of thirty poems designed expressly to send such messages. Four sections (“Chants & Charms,” “Spells & Invocations,” “Laments & Remembrances,” “Praise Songs & Blessings”) cover a range of emotions, from hopes (“Invitation to Lost Things”) and celebration (“Blessing on the Smell of Dog”) to confusion (“Where Is My Body?”) and regret (“Chant to Repair a Friendship”). While some entries are more incantatory than others, they’re all swift and intimate lyrics, sometimes rising to stellar levels of percipience and flow (as in “A List of Things That Will Set You Free,” “Illness: A Conversation,” and “Riding a Bike at Night”). The trim portrait-oriented volume frames the short lines of the poetry, and elegant design (including a silk-ribbon bookmark) adds to the appeal of the verses. Zagarenski’s dreamy, fantastical mixed-media illustrations are an apt complement; sometimes full bleed, sometimes spot art, they suggest Cirque du Soleil traveling through Chagall’s world, with slender crowned harlequins traversing landscapes and consorting with wild animals as the stars look on (keen-eyed readers will note additional recurring motifs, such as the steamy teakettle and the versatile wheels). Readers just edging toward adult poetry and those filling their notebooks with their own lyrics will find this elegant little title perfect for poetic dreams.