The Marvelous Arithmetics of Distance: Poems, 1987-1992

There is a kind of poetry that explodes, like danger or love, out of the lives of certain poets whether they and readers are ready for it or not. It was that kind of volatile and transformational poetry which Audre Lorde wrote up until her death in 1992 and included in her last volume, THE MARVELOUS ARITHMETICS OF DISTANCE. This is a collection of 39 poems written while Lorde battled against the advanced stages of cancer that eventually claimed her life. The poems draw as much power from what they don't say as from what they do. Poems such as "Prism" and "For Craig" show a deep maternal concern for youth and women continuously victimized by violence throughout the world. Fully present throughout THE MARVELOUS ARITHMETICS OF DISTANCE is Lorde's trademark intolerance for political, social, and racial injustice. But the most powerful element here perhaps is Lorde's insistence on claiming her approaching death in order to consciously shape her experience of it. By doing so, she maintained until the end an inspiring sense of self-ownership in her art and in her life. Aberjhani author of I MADE MY BOY OUT OF POETRY and ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

This is a beautiful collection of poems by a woman searching for answers in the face of her impending death. She examines not only her past, but also the world around her in deft, perceptful, and moving poems. I highly recommend this book to any fan of poetry.