Song

A friend of mine turned me on to Kelly and I am happy she did. This stuff is so vivid, so colorful and full of haunting images. True delight.

Brigit Kelly's title poem is, truly, the best poem I have ever read. It is so filled with suffering and sweetness, interwoven, I could hardly stand it; it blew my mind. The entire book is wonderful. Kelly's poems radiate intelligence and bare-bones honesty. She dives into the pain and truth and loveliness of life and takes you along with her, but even with all the intensity in her writing, she leaves you feeling somehow safe in the world. If you can find her first book somewhere (it's out of print) find it, too. It also cuts to the quick. Please, Brigit, give us another book!

Compare this to what? Chagall dreaming at dusk near a pasture? . . . Kelly's poems paint their way into your mind through your eyes, in short, brush-saturated strokes of paint. Her short lines, full of amazing enjambments, lull you out of adulthood. But it's not all pleasant. There's a lot to be afraid of. But there's so much beauty (in all that mystery) after you catch your breath. Kelly's poem-paintings are dripping with nightmares and dreamlight.

Senuous; This book is composed of the stretchings of this woman's life. I had the opportunity to hear her read and I will never feel the same way about age or sex or truth again.