In this Book
- Persephone
- Book
- 2008
- Published by: Red Hen Press
summary
Like the mythic Persephone, these poems move between worlds of wild light and onyx darkness. Abducted by Hades, Persephone was kept captive in the underworld until her mother, Demeter, consumed with rage and sorrow, refused to let anything live or bloom. Grudgingly, Hades released her but only after she tasted the pomegranate he offered, a fruit that kept her bound to him for three months of the year forever. These poems move between such ecstatic glimpses of love, sex, family and that underworld of pain, loss and dark coldness between parents and children, siblings, lovers and strangers. The blues and despair in her poems, immediate and powerful as the worlds of any woman who moves from darkness and cold into the green world of rebirth, light and flowers, highlights “the combination of eros, ebullience and triste, or sadness,” a Lifshin trademark.
Table of Contents
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- Introduction
- p. 17
- Sleeping with Lorca
- p. 23
- Being Jewish in a Small Town
- pp. 26-27
- Christmas Tree
- p. 28
- Not Writing for Days
- pp. 30-31
- Ballet Du Maurais
- pp. 34-35
- The Lost Photograph
- pp. 36-37
- Part 2. Lovers and Leavers
- pp. 41-42
- The Man Who Mostly Lip Reads
- pp. 48-49
- The Affair
- pp. 50-51
- Part 3. Deserted Rooms: Family
- pp. 59-60
- My Sister’s Diaries
- p. 64
- The Other Fathers
- p. 65
- August 24, That Other Summer I
- pp. 66-67
- Around the Table
- pp. 68-69
- The Old Dog
- pp. 70-72
- Another September Letter
- pp. 76-78
- Locking the Screen Door
- pp. 82-83
- In the Middle Drawer
- pp. 84-85
- The Gold Dress
- pp. 86-87
- Blue Couch
- pp. 88-89
- Spoon Night, Crystal Night
- pp. 90-91
- My Mother and the Oranges
- pp. 94-95
- Wintergreen
- pp. 96-97
- Julys in the Rose Light Room
- pp. 100-102
- Part 5. Awaiting Alma
- pp. 103-104
- Alma Karmina
- p. 105
- Alma, Her Eyes Shiny Coal
- pp. 106-107
- They Are On Their Way
- p. 108
- Part 6. Life Leaves Marks: Other Voices
- pp. 109-110
- The Woman in Love with Maps
- pp. 112-113
- When I Bury My Face in the Crimson Velvet
- pp. 119-120
- Part 7. A House Built on Water
- pp. 121-122
- Behind Colonial Windows
- pp. 123-126
- Croton-on-Hudson
- pp. 127-134
- Even Before the Pond Freezes Over
- pp. 137-139
- She Comes to the River When I Feed the Geese
- pp. 140-141
- The Dog Food Heiress
- pp. 144-145
- Late November
- p. 162
- September Early
- p. 164
- September, Early
- p. 165
- Inline Skaters
- p. 166
- Steepletop
- p. 168
- After the Origami of Ice
- p. 170
- Part 10. Flame Birds
- pp. 171-172
- Someone Goes Over Old Love Letter
- pp. 174-175
- After September 11
- p. 176
- After September 11
- p. 177
- September 24, 2001
- p. 178
- October 18, 2001
- p. 179
- October 30, 2001
- pp. 181-182
- About the Author
- pp. 183-184
Additional Information
ISBN
9781597093835
Related ISBN(s)
9781597091244
MARC Record
OCLC
867793675
Pages
184
Launched on MUSE
2013-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No