benediction for a black swan: poems

by Mimi Zollars

Overview

In Benediction for a Black Swan, Mimi Zollars explores the topics of childhood, children, marriage and divorce, alcoholism, and the sensual world in a series of edgy, seductive, irreverent, and ethereal poems. Incorporating elements of magical realism, Zollars’ sexy, darkly beautiful works embrace the miraculous as ordinary—and turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631529511
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	06/02/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Mimi Zollars was raised on both coasts of the United States and currently lives on a small island off the Texas coast with her three children. Raised in the Catholic Church and the ballet, her ruthlessly romantic view of the world is not uninformed. Zollars attended the University of Washington, where she studied creative writing and dance.

Table of Contents

I

Like a poem 1

The moderns 3

José louis rodríguez guerra 5

Beautiful tim at the two bells 7

Lost 9

Sculptress 11

The pink door 13

La città eterna 15

Seattle was our paris 19

Benediction for a black swan 21

II

Rosary 25

A too-cold june day in montana 27

Ceremony 29

Shiscido red and gin in her teacup 31

Souling 33

The beautiful bridge did fall 35

Blue eyes dolls eyes 39

Untangling maleficence 41

Sepulcher 43

An expulsion worthy of the gods 45

Love the mystery 47

Centerpoint 49

Spiritus sanctus 53

Chatoiement 55

III

Eternal point of viewp 59

Cerulean blue and I dream 61

The window she dreams of 63

Net of indra 65

And then this 67

All I hear back is I love you I love you 69

Night ink 71

Give me a dark room and I'll give you an adulteress 73

Unrepentant as sin 75

Cherries 77

Allowing 79

IV

Benediction mark morris 83

Initiation 87

Finalé 89

Perceived pleasure 91

Epilogue 93

It's the setup the gods adore 97

Gypsy meditation 99

Let someone else describe sacred 101

It's not every day the world arranges itself into a poem for your 103

Tattoo/sleeve 105

Bleeding edge 107

Editorial Reviews

★ 2015-07-07
A debut collection of poems exploring love, art, and loss. Some poets focus on the mechanics of poetry, such as intonation and rhythm, and neglect passion. This isn't the case with Zollars, whose debut collection is a masterful study of how words can be sparingly hewn to create stunning, long-lasting emotional scenes—from a child's fraught relationship with an alcoholic mother to the cold reality of professional beauty. In "the moderns," the author writes in a spare style of a dressmaker and his model's unrequited love for him: "she becomes / a shimmering / goddess / swathed / in silk satin," and they later adjourn to an "old hotel bar / drinking / sazeracs / elegant / blushing patrons / surreal / conversations // she loves / the effect / of bourbon / of him / of life / resembling / art." In "center point," a child remembers her mom's heavy drinking: "she became a mystery / the children were incapable of solving / distressing...terrible in her destruction." Zollars' elegantly limned language and visual use of space create a vivid volume that's a genuine pleasure to read. She arranges the collection into four discrete parts, prefacing each section with quotes from a variety of sources, including contemporary television shows (with a somewhat self-serving quote from Masters of Sex: "If you want to know more about the nature of femininity, you will have to consult the poets"). These quotes are the weakest part of what's otherwise a strong, powerful collection, simply because they're not in the author's voice and ultimately serve as distractions. However, there's no question that Zollars is an inspiring, notable talent; she accomplishes more with a poem of 50 words than some other poets accomplish in 50 pages. She achieves this by being attuned to nuance but not repetitive detail; emotion but not sentimentality; and, finally, rhythm but not noise. Each poem offers a perfectly observed moment as seen through a slightly distorted lens, featuring personality, heartbreak, and the desire to bridge distances that can't be named. A set by a brilliant new poet, featuring exquisite emotional nuance and an impressive mastery of craft.

Kirkus Reviews