The Bodies We Were Loaned [Paperback]

Maria Terrone (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0915380498 | ISBN-13: 978-0915380497 | Publication Date: March 2002

Whether focused on turn-of-the-century subway workers, Madame Curie, or the author's own family, these finely crafted poems recognize life's impermanence and transcendent beauty. Cover Art by Daniel Hugoes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

..sensuous and sensitive poems explore the presence of the extraordinary in the ordinary... a love song to the wounded world. -- Maria Mazziotti Gillan, January 2002

From the Publisher

Maria Terrone's scrupulously crafted, suavely cadenced poems record telling details of the quotidian world with such vividness that after a while we begin to hear "the rush" of the "hidden/city" of the heart, "its roar and raging heat, the wild/dark needed to become human." The Bodies We Were Loaned is a triumph of meticulous sorrow. --Sandra M. Gilbert

Here the poetry starts before we even open the book. The title The Bodies We Were Loaned was apropos before the events of September 2001 made it electric with a raw new relevance. We savor what we know will pass, long for what is passing--be it a Chinese emperor, a sandhog or "a prophet in flame red lipstick." Here we find them all. Here we also find eloquence without a hint of the facile, a naturalist's eye avid for textures and detail, and a heart prepared to evoke "the body's unequivocal language." These fine poems are a delight to recommend. -- William Pitt Root

In language precise in its physicality and thought, Maria Terrone celebrates ordinary work and those who perform it, admiring the tough, the common,what endures. As keenly attuned to what is going on in works of art as in the emotional states she observes in herself and those around her, her poems become notations of mood, intensely alive to the passing moment, and to all those momentary things that are, by the force of her observation, "dipped in light." It is "the body's unequivocal language" that Maria Terrone aspires to in this maturely achieved first collection. --Eamon Grennan

In The Bodies We Were Loaned, Maria Terrone presents us with sensuous and sensitive poems that explore the presence of the extraordinary in the ordinary. This powerful, moving book is a love song to the wounded world. --Maria Mazziotti Gillan

Count on it: a poem by Maria Terrone entices. In her first book, expect surprises. Maria loves the exotic of now and long ago, the local landscapes of the globe. But she especially loves New York, and her splendid poems capture the joy in sounds and images so vivid, I'm there. I love all the poems in this collection. --Walt McDonald

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Product Details

• Paperback: 108 pages
• Publisher: Word Works (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915380498
• ISBN-13: 978-0915380497
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,836,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensitivity, August 16, 2002

By 

Ron (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bodies We Were Loaned (Paperback)

A poet's insight is an ability to perceive the whispers of the soul and quiet sounds from within. The Bodies We Were Loaned was an inspiration that helped this busy and preoccupied reader feel, see, sense, and remember the presence of his own soul. The sensitivity of Maria Terrone is expressed through her use of imagery, sound, and rhythm in this much-needed book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry of Flesh and Spirit, June 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bodies We Were Loaned (Paperback)

The poems in Maria Terrone's "The Bodies We Were Loaned" blend anguish and hope, childlike innocence and a clear-eyed adult awareness of life's starkest realities, and spiritual longing and a joyous appreciation of the earth's gifts. Infused with imagery that awakens all the senses, not just the visual, the poems show an aching appreciation of the glory, as well as the pain, that accompanies our mortality.