Guided by the character of the Woman Warrior--witty, swift, and ruthless
in her wonder--readers of Brynn Saito's second collection of poetry
travel the terrain of personal and historical memory: narrative poems
about family, farming towns, and the bravery of girlhood are
interspersed with lyric poetry written from the voice of a stone found
in a Japanese American internment camp during the wartime incarceration.
What histories can be summoned with poetry? What are the forces shaping
an American life in the 21st century? Car accidents, patriarchy, and
television fall under this poet's gaze, along with the intergenerational
reverberations of historical trauma. As with The Palace of
Contemplating Departure, Saito's first award-winning collection, Power
Made Us Swoon strives for wonder and speaks--in edgy and vulnerable
tones--of the fraught journey toward a more just world. "Learn to lie to
survive," sings the woman warrior, "Learn to outlast the flame / learn
the art of surprise."