I’m not sure I’ve ever fallen in love with a poetry collection but I have with this one. The Antigone Poems by Marie Slaight are hauntingly dark and beautiful and the charcoal drawings by Terrence Tasker are exquisite. I keep going back and rereading pieces from the book and I can honestly say this is a collection that I will continue to revisit.
First a little background. The collection is inspired by the story of Antigone which draws on the Greek tragedy written by Sophocles. I wasn’t familiar with this play so I looked up the story of Antigone. The short of it is Antigone is imprisoned after defying a law set by her uncle in regards to her wanting to give her dead brother a proper burial. She’s enclosed in a cave where she ultimately kills herself. The poems reflect both on her and other women’s anger, despair, and rebellion in the past and through the ages. A person could easily enjoy this collection without being familiar with the play but I think a little knowledge enriches the beauty of these poems.
A word about the book itself… It’s gorgeous. It is a small volume, paperback, with the most beautiful creamy white paper inside. The cover is amazing with its dark feel and it literally invites you to open it and indulge in this wonderful collection over and over again.
These poems aren’t long or drawn out and I loved that about them. They are short, precise, and very powerful. Here’s a favorite…
This voice
Is afraid to speak.
Afraid
Of the brutal metal
Of its words.
Words that scrape.
Words that scar.
Words that have no peace.
If I utter this voice
This great
Aching scream
It’s horror will echo forever.
This piece speaks for itself. Highly recommended!
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“short, precise, and very powerful” are the best kind of poems for me. I’ll be looking to read this one soon!
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