She Had Some Horses

Although it is occasionally cryptic, She Had Some Horses presents a collection that contains within it's repertoire one of the best poetic qualities-it conveys general feelings as opposed to rigid and specific details. Through the use of outwardly dissociative comparisons and actions, Harjo creates moods and atmospheres with each offering in the collection. An uncommon talent, Harjo's poetry has a way of swirling off of the page and into your ears, running its syllables over your mind again and again and creating an emotion as easily as music does. With moods set, her imagery jumps off of the page and into the eyes that are hidden deep within the imagination centers of your brain, and it does so with ease-as if it were second nature. More than a few of the poems seem like they were written once, perfect first drafts, showing that Harjo has yet another valuable poetic asset. In a genre filled to the brim with both the strange and eccentric, and the dull and boring, Harjo's style manages quite well to stand out.

I am in awe of the power of the title poem. I have read it over and over again for many years. So much power, truly awesome.

My introduction to Joy Harjo was her recitation of some of her poetry on a PBS special - that recitation included the title piece from this volume; it convinced me that I had to read her work. I have never been disappointed. Unlike her later books that contain a number of prose poems, this book contains only free form poems. However, the poems are often highly rhythmic in a musical sense - I was not suprised to find that she is an accomplished jazz saxophone player. Her images are creative and clear - brilliant word gems which are scattered in the poems: "horses neighing / at the razor sky"The poetry is starkly truthful - universal human lives using alcohol to escape their pain, seeking love ... But this universality is expressed primarily from her Cree culture, expressed in a way that allows us to see another world view, to see her experience within that world view.An example: "She feels the sky / tethered to the changing / earth, and her skin / responds, like a woman / to her lover."Beautiful contemporary poetry not to be missed.