Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"Some Say the Lark is a piercing meditation, rooted in loss and longing, and manifest in dazzling leaps of the imagination--the familiar world rendered strange." --Natasha Trethewey
Jennifer Chang's poems narrate grief and loss, and intertwines them with hope for a fresh start in the midst of new beginnings. With topics such as divorce, cross-country moves, and frustration with our social and natural world, these poems openly question the self, place, and how private experiences like motherhood and sorrow necessitate a deeper engagement with public life and history.
From "The Winter's Wife":
I want wild roots to prosper
an invention of blooms, each unknown
to every wise gardener. If I could be
a color. If I could be a question
of tender regard. I know crabgrass
and thistle. I know one algorithm:
it has nothing to do with repetition
or rhythm. It is the route from number
to number (less to more, more
to less), a map drawn by proof
not faith. Unlike twilight, I do not
conclude with darkness. I conclude.
Jennifer Chang is the author of The History of Anonymity, which was a finalist for the Glasgow/Shenandoah Prize for Emerging Writers and listed by Hyphen Magazine as a Top Five Book of Poetry for 2008. Her poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Best American Poetry 2012, The Nation, Poetry, A Public Space, and elsewhere. She is an assistant professor of English and Creative Writing at George Washington University and lives in Washington, DC with her family.