Little Savage

Emily Fragos' wonderous "Little Savage" is the best argument I've ever read not to rush out a first book. It's clearly the work of a poet who's honed her ideas and art over time. The poems arrive as perfectly polished as stones shaped by a river.

Emily Fragos is our ambassador from the world of close, close attention being paid. Too often we rush by the best and worst of our human-ness, which is where the really interesting stuff is hidden. Poems like these remind us of what poetry is for--every line is under intense psychic pressure, there is not a shred of sentimentality, and not a word is wasted. "Severe" is not usually a word used as praise, but here it is very apt. "Little Savage" is wonderful.

Emily Fragos is a poet's poet (touted by Marie Ponsot, Lucie Brock-Broido, Richard Howard) but you don't have to be a poet to fall in love with her. Because Fragos isn't only a prize-winning poet, she's also a prize observer of ordinary life, meditating on concerns that dog us all as we go about our unpoetic days. Like, earning a paycheck: "I have found a job writing letters,/long and puzzling,/ on pale pink stationery,/for the woman with glass eyes." Or dealing with overdue fines. "The book from the library/was overdue and with fifty-odd pages left,/and the penalty of a small fine,/I returned it..." On the way home, she buys the book called The Loser only to "put the loser on the highest shelf/and keep him dusted, facing the window." Of course, being a poet, she also reflects on esoteric questions, like one's place in the universe: "There are two worlds I know of:/ the vast illumined/and the place where I am." Which is why you're buying a book of poetry in the first place, instead of one-clicking on, say, Bergdorf Blondes.

This award-winning poet has given us a gem with the publication of her haunting poetry.

Little Savage, an amazing array of 48 poems by Emily Fragos, astounds the reader with its barely restained passion. Shards of dissonance collide with shafts of brilliance to create a kaleidescopic symphony of savagery. The poet's collection, from the very first "Apollo's Kiss" to "The Other Place," is powerfully commanding, yet humbly beseeching.