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Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Odd Mercy

Odd Mercy

Paperback

General Poetry

ISBN10: 0997914920
ISBN13: 9780997914924
Publisher: Headmistress Press
Published: Nov 10 2016
Pages: 46
Weight: 0.15
Height: 0.12 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Winner of the 2016 Charlotte Mew Prize

The centerpiece of Odd Mercy is The Little Mommy Sonnets, a crown of sonnets that carries us poignantly through the life and death of the poet's mother, as well as their complicated bond over time. I was impressed with Gail Thomas' dedication to craft, her richness of detail and especially her deft transitions from the end line of one sonnet to the opening line of the next. The challenge here is to repeat the line, but to make it new, to show us another facet, and Thomas does that so skillfully in these poems, propelling us forward through the narrative. Poetry uses words to convey what is beyond words, to say the unsayable. The last line of Odd Mercy expresses this paradox tenderly as the poet reflects on her mother: your words/now gibberish, your voice always in my head.

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General Poetry