Customer Reviews

She Had Some Horses

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My introduction to Joy Harjo was her recitation of some of her poetry on a PBS special - that recitation included the title piece from this volume; it convinced me that I had to read her work. I have never been disappointed. Unlike her later books that contain a number of prose poems, this book contains only free form poems. However, the poems are often highly rhythmic in a musical sense - I was not suprised to find that she is an accomplished jazz saxophone player. Her images are creative and clear - brilliant word gems which are scattered in the poems: "horses neighing / at the razor sky"

The poetry is starkly truthful - universal human lives using alcohol to escape their pain, seeking love ... But this universality is expressed primarily from her Cree culture, expressed in a way that allows us to see another world view, to see her experience within that world view.

An example: "She feels the sky / tethered to the changing / earth, and her skin / responds, like a woman / to her lover."

Beautiful contemporary poetry not to be missed.

I am in awe of the power of the title poem. I have read it over and over again for many years. So much power, truly awesome.