Early Cuts

by Kelli Lage

Lage’s debut poetry collection, Early Cuts, explores what can cut a human, metaphorically, past the physical, throughout life’s stages. This story explores complex emotions under sections titled, “The Cut,” “The Healing,” “The Infection,” and “The Scar.”

“The Cut” breaks open the floodgates of mental and emotional pain. “The Healing” delves into love and mental health. “The Infection” tours mistakes as well as the nonlinear process of healing. “The Scar” ponders what humans are left with when our journey on this earth is complete.

90 pages, Paperback

Published May 17, 2023

About the author

Kelli Lage is an assistant poetry editor Bracken Magazine and Best of the Net and Pushcart nominated poet. Her debut full-length poetry collection, Early Cuts, was published in spring 2023 with Kelsay Books. Her poetry chapbook, I’m Glad We Did This, was published in fall 2023 with Prolific Pulse Press. Lage's work has appeared in Stanchion Zine, Orange Blossom Review, Maudlin House, The Lumiere Review, Welter Journal, and elsewhere.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

One genre of literature that I tend to overlook is poetry. However, I recently came across Kelli Lage's Early Cuts and it was a delightful surprise. The book is a wonderful blend of emotion, depth, and captivating beauty. Early Cuts is divided into four parts: The Cut, The Infection, The Healing, and The Scar. Each section is raw and heartfelt, and the author's vivid imagination breathes life into every word. The journey that Lage takes us on is both haunting and fulfilling. In the end, we are left grateful for having taken the ride. The book provides a refreshingly honest perspective on life's journeys, which are often filled with hardships and leave us with scars. It's a story worth sharing.

[Elizabeth Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lage’s Early Cuts masterfully handles the art of juxtaposition in both structure and within individual poems. “In the end, the ashes will be on display / at the local museum next to an all-American diner,” Lage writes in “Jump in the Fire.” Placing the haunting and the appealing side-by-side where “[n]ice is made up of clenched teeth” (“Someone Else’s Dress”) Lage reveals a complex coexistence between hurting and healing.

Through the sections Early Cuts is divided into, Lage invites her reader to accompany her on a journey through the—often non-linear—healing process and does so in her unique poetic style.