Window Left Open
Poems
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The poppies are wild, they are only beautiful and tall
so long as you do not cut them,
they are like the feral cat who purrs and rubs against your leg
but will scratch you if you touch back.
Love is letting the world be half-tamed.
--from "Poppies"
In this lush, intricately crafted collection, Jennifer Grotz explores how we can become strange to ourselves through escape, isolation, desire--and by leaving the window open. These poems are full of the sensory pleasures of the natural world and a slowed-down concept of time as Grotz records the wonders of travel, a sojourn at a French monastery, and the translation of thoughts into words, words into another language, language into this remarkable poetry. Window Left Open is a beautiful and resounding book, one that traces simultaneously the intimacy and the vastness of the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The curiosities of a poet aren't just for proof of the sublime, and Grotz (The Needle) finds reason for intellectually excavating even the simplest of objects and creatures, such as snow, scorpions, sundials, and poppies. Her poetry can be playful as she speaks in accessible riddles, always aware of the line between a lush metaphor and an excessive, hollow display. The opening stanza of "The Snow Apples" is one example of Grotz's preference for the power of simplicity: "the snow apples that still hang/ on otherwise bare branches,/ why won't they let go?" Their stubborn refusal to detach from the tree can be viewed as an action that is just as human as someone refusing to let go of the past, a relationship, or a memory. The following poem, "Snow," further showcases Grotz's keen eye as she contrasts her desert upbringing with the realities of northern climes. Her humble, trance-like assessment of the natural world continues into "Snowflakes," where each flake presents the chance to contemplate unreplicated beauty. Grotz establishes an intimacy with her readers through the deconstruction of personal moments, as depicted in "Hangover in Paris" and "Denial." Some readers may find Grotz's style too casual, while others may lavish praise on her adroit language as she renders the quotidian into devastating vulnerability.
