A bountiful group of poems--direct, honest, and revelatory--that
reflect on language, nature, old age, young love, Judaism, and our
current politics, from one of our most read and admired poets
Words are my business, Marge Piercy begins her twentieth collection of
poetry, a glance back at a lifetime of learning, loving, grieving, and
fighting for the disenfranchised, and a look forward at what the future
holds for herself, her family and friends, and her embattled country. In
the opening section, Piercy tells of her childhood in Detroit, with its
vacant lots and scrappy children, the bike that gave her wings, her
ambition at fourteen to gobble down all knowledge, and a too-early
marriage (I put on my first marriage / like a girdle my skinny body /
didn't need). We then leap into the present, her twilight zone, where
she is learning to be quiet, learning to give praise despite it all.
There are funny poems about medicine ads with their dire warnings, and
some possible plusses about being dead: I'll never do another load of
laundry . . . There is comfort in old bodies / coming together, in a
partner's warmth--You're always warm: warm hands / smooth back sleek as
a Burmese cat./ Sunny weather outside and in.
Piercy has long been known for her political poems, and here we have her
thoughts on illegal immigrants, dying languages, fraught landscapes,
abortion, President-speak. She examines her nonbeliever's need for
religious holidays and spiritual depth, and the natural world is
appreciated throughout. On the Way Out, Turn Off the Light is yet more
proof of Piercy's love and mastery of language--it is moving,
stimulating, funny, and full of the stuff of life.
