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Awake: Poems.
Awake, Dorianne Laux's first book of poetry, is introduced by Pulitzer Prize winner and U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine for a It's a near-perfect, emotionally haunting book—one which follows a narrative trajectory that touches upon the speaker's ability to endure the cruelties of parental abuse, and maturation into womanhood, alongside the joy's of noticing everyday details and using the imagination and a fearless poetic voice to confront—if not escape—suffering's violent hand.
- GenresPoetryLiterary Fiction
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1990
3 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
About the author
Dorianne Laux
40 books620 followersDORIANNE LAUX’s most recent collection is Life On Earth. Only As The Day Is Long: New and Selected, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She is also author of The Book of Men (W.W. Norton) which won the Paterson Prize for Poetry. Her fourth book of poems, Facts about the Moon (W.W. Norton), is the recipient of the Oregon Book Award, chosen by Ai. It was also short-listed for the 2006 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for the most outstanding book of poems published in the United States and chosen by the Kansas City Star as a noteworthy book of 2005. A finalist for the National Book Critics' Circle Award, Laux is also author of three collections of poetry from BOA Editions, Awake (1990) introduced by Philip Levine, What We Carry (1994) and Smoke (2000). Red Dragonfly Press released The Book of Women in 2012. Co-author of The Poet's Companion, she’s the recipient of three Best American Poetry Prizes, a Pushcart Prize, two fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her work has appeared in the Best of the American Poetry Review, The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, and she’s a frequent contributor to magazines as various as Tinhouse, Orion, Oxford American and Ms. Magazine. Laux has waited tables and written poems in San Diego, Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Petaluma, California, and as far north as Juneau, Alaska. She has taught poetry at the University of Oregon and is founding faculty at Pacific University’s Low Residency MFA Program. In 2008 she and her husband, poet Joseph Millar, moved to Raleigh where she directs the program In Creative Writing at North Carolina State University. She is founding faculty for Pacific University's Low Residency MFA Program.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
March 7, 2012
I think I ordered this for my birthday in July last year but I have only just read it. Poetry that excites me is hard to find so when I suspect that a recently found collection may be good I hoard it, until one day ... when I can bear the anticipation no longer ... I dive in. Which is what I did this morning. I made my banana smoothie, sat down to have a brief look and didn't emerge from Laux's head until I'd finished. Didn't get the kids' breakfasts, help the six year old with his homework, or help pack my partner for his trip to Melbourne. Anyway, I'm trying to read all of last year's birthday haul so I can order more this birthday so I'm really chewing through the books lately.
I'm not going to lie though, when Laux sent me a friend's request on goodreads I not only giggled a little and had a extensive daydream that she wanted to befriend me because of my supreme wit and attractiveness (which branched off into us riding a carousel together, eating fairy floss and talking poetry) but I also thought, shit, now if I don't like her book I'm going to have to be polite. Well, thankfully there was no risk of that. I don't know how to be polite anyway.
This collection was amazing. I can't remember how I found out about her work but I think it was on one of my insomnia fueled tumblr/ YouTube binges. Insomnia almost always pays off with me. I'm terribly thankful for that night of no sleep. Now I've made sure the rest of Laux's work is on my birthday list for this year and then I presume I will live in a state of conflicting emotions for a very long time. Wanting to gorge but refraining because there's nothing worse than reading all an author's work and waiting for them to write something new.
START WRITING NOW DORIANNE, PRETTY PLEASE WITH CHERRIES ON TOP. Mama's got a huge poetry appetite to feed and you're her main course.
I'm not going to lie though, when Laux sent me a friend's request on goodreads I not only giggled a little and had a extensive daydream that she wanted to befriend me because of my supreme wit and attractiveness (which branched off into us riding a carousel together, eating fairy floss and talking poetry) but I also thought, shit, now if I don't like her book I'm going to have to be polite. Well, thankfully there was no risk of that. I don't know how to be polite anyway.
This collection was amazing. I can't remember how I found out about her work but I think it was on one of my insomnia fueled tumblr/ YouTube binges. Insomnia almost always pays off with me. I'm terribly thankful for that night of no sleep. Now I've made sure the rest of Laux's work is on my birthday list for this year and then I presume I will live in a state of conflicting emotions for a very long time. Wanting to gorge but refraining because there's nothing worse than reading all an author's work and waiting for them to write something new.
START WRITING NOW DORIANNE, PRETTY PLEASE WITH CHERRIES ON TOP. Mama's got a huge poetry appetite to feed and you're her main course.
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February 15, 2008This book made me want to write poetry. Need I say more? It's one of the best ever...
June 25, 2025
Dorianne Laux, where have you been all my life?!
I’ve read a poem or two by Laux in writing classes, but it wasn’t until I recently grabbed a first edition of Awake at a library book sale that I became infatuated with her work.
Laux goes for the jugular, then kisses you gently on the lips. She knows how to write sharp, sensuous lines, and handles ugly topics with such beautiful language that you almost forget the horror of the trauma she’s describing.
I can’t wait to dive into the rest of her works.
Favorites:
“Ghosts”
“Bird”
“China”
“The Laundromat”
I’ve read a poem or two by Laux in writing classes, but it wasn’t until I recently grabbed a first edition of Awake at a library book sale that I became infatuated with her work.
Laux goes for the jugular, then kisses you gently on the lips. She knows how to write sharp, sensuous lines, and handles ugly topics with such beautiful language that you almost forget the horror of the trauma she’s describing.
I can’t wait to dive into the rest of her works.
Favorites:
“Ghosts”
“Bird”
“China”
“The Laundromat”
June 9, 2017
hopefull I can write a review to do justice to this one
January 23, 2026
Perhaps Philip Levine says it best in his introduction to Dorianne Laux's first book, "It is astonishing how much of the world Dorianne Laux can contain in her work. This is a poetry of risk: it will go to the very edge of extinction to find the hard facts that need to be sung, and one of the miracles of this collection is that every poem finds them..." Twenty-eight poems: each one exquisite.
As a poet, reading Laux makes me wonder how much I've left on the table myself in poems that might have pressed harder or searched longer for the truth. Laux perseveres over difficult terrain and in a way that invites any reader into the moment to understand not just the facts, but also the emotional truth of life's tough lessons.
Well, I love all of these poems, but perhaps none so much as "The Tooth Fairy" which paints such an honest picture of parental love and strife. A poem that starts,
They brushed a quarter with glue
and glitter, slipped in on bare
feet, and without waking me
painted rows of delicate gold
footprints on my sheets with a love
so quiet, I still can't hear it.
As a parent, poet, and former child, I am in awe of this stanza. And perhaps that makes the devastation of stanza three burn.
It's harder to believe
the years that followed, the palms
curled into fists, a floor
of broken dishes, her chainsmoking
through long sentences, him
punching holes in his wall.
We see in just a few stanzas this couple fall apart. He's dying of a rare bone disease, alone. She's working the graveyard shift. Maybe Laux could have left it at that. But instead, she leans back into the beauty of the poem's start...
And I still wonder how they did it, slipped
that quarter under my pillow, made those
perfect footprints...
Whenever I visit her, I ask again.
"I don't know," she says, rocking, closing
her eyes. "We were as surprised as you."
Look, if you can find this book read it. (I borrowed a first edition from our local library.) To write even one poem this perfectly in a lifetime is a gift. How wonderful that Dorianne Laux was just getting started with AWAKE.
As a poet, reading Laux makes me wonder how much I've left on the table myself in poems that might have pressed harder or searched longer for the truth. Laux perseveres over difficult terrain and in a way that invites any reader into the moment to understand not just the facts, but also the emotional truth of life's tough lessons.
Well, I love all of these poems, but perhaps none so much as "The Tooth Fairy" which paints such an honest picture of parental love and strife. A poem that starts,
They brushed a quarter with glue
and glitter, slipped in on bare
feet, and without waking me
painted rows of delicate gold
footprints on my sheets with a love
so quiet, I still can't hear it.
As a parent, poet, and former child, I am in awe of this stanza. And perhaps that makes the devastation of stanza three burn.
It's harder to believe
the years that followed, the palms
curled into fists, a floor
of broken dishes, her chainsmoking
through long sentences, him
punching holes in his wall.
We see in just a few stanzas this couple fall apart. He's dying of a rare bone disease, alone. She's working the graveyard shift. Maybe Laux could have left it at that. But instead, she leans back into the beauty of the poem's start...
And I still wonder how they did it, slipped
that quarter under my pillow, made those
perfect footprints...
Whenever I visit her, I ask again.
"I don't know," she says, rocking, closing
her eyes. "We were as surprised as you."
Look, if you can find this book read it. (I borrowed a first edition from our local library.) To write even one poem this perfectly in a lifetime is a gift. How wonderful that Dorianne Laux was just getting started with AWAKE.
June 10, 2025
"I want it back. The red earrings and blue slips. Lips alive with spit. Muscles
twisting like boat ropes in a hard wind. Bellies for pillows. Not this ache in my hip."
- ghosts
"If we could have had children, or religion, maybe sleep
wouldn't feel like death, like shovel heads
packing the black earth down."
- awake
"I have loved other men since, taken
them into my mouth like a warm vowel,
lain beneath them and watched their irises float like small worlds in their open eyes.
But this man pressed his thumb toward the tail of my spine
as if he were entering
China, or a ripe papaya, so that now when I think of love I think of this."
- china
"I want to be Catholic. A Jew. Maybe
a Methodist. I want to kneel
for days on rough wood."
- sunday
twisting like boat ropes in a hard wind. Bellies for pillows. Not this ache in my hip."
- ghosts
"If we could have had children, or religion, maybe sleep
wouldn't feel like death, like shovel heads
packing the black earth down."
- awake
"I have loved other men since, taken
them into my mouth like a warm vowel,
lain beneath them and watched their irises float like small worlds in their open eyes.
But this man pressed his thumb toward the tail of my spine
as if he were entering
China, or a ripe papaya, so that now when I think of love I think of this."
- china
"I want to be Catholic. A Jew. Maybe
a Methodist. I want to kneel
for days on rough wood."
- sunday
July 15, 2025
What a delightful debut book. These poems are concise, yet vivid, disarming and personal, but above all else, inspiring. But one of the most striking things about this book was how accessible the poems are. Newcomers to the genre will be able to appreciate Laux’s poems without wading through esoteric prose.
I read “Two Pictures of My Sister” in college; it remains a standout years later. Other first-read highlights include “Ghost,” which sets the tone for the rest of the book, “The Nurse,” plus the one-two punch of “The Garden” and “Sunday” that close the book on a high note.
I read “Two Pictures of My Sister” in college; it remains a standout years later. Other first-read highlights include “Ghost,” which sets the tone for the rest of the book, “The Nurse,” plus the one-two punch of “The Garden” and “Sunday” that close the book on a high note.
April 24, 2020
I discovered Dorianne Laux through one of the “Ten poems to...” books. I liked the very matter of fact language and style of that example of her work. And I’ve enjoyed that in this book as well. I like how, in some of her poems, she takes me on a journey, and often doesn’t end where the start makes me think it will.
Poems I marked are:
- Two pictures of my sister
- The tooth fairy
- Bird
- Adam’s Dad teaches the kids to play ball
Poems I marked are:
- Two pictures of my sister
- The tooth fairy
- Bird
- Adam’s Dad teaches the kids to play ball
August 10, 2021
What an excellent and precise storyteller Dorianne Laux is. An infuriatingly good first collection. Particular favorites: "What My Father Told Me," "Quarter to Six," "On the Back Porch," "The Laundromat," "The Garden."
October 2, 2022
I’ve read Laux before, but in this collection, I felt like I got to know her. Visceral, simplistic, grounded, yet more profound than any abstraction could be. She knows how to channel humanity into a handful of words, something very few can do.
March 29, 2019
These poems are vibrant and alive.
October 10, 2025
My favorite poet — her word choice and use of language are truly exceptional.
December 3, 2025
broke my heart over and over.
October 6, 2011
I feel like this collection deserves more stars than I gave it, because in some ways I'm punishing the book for being poetry, which I'm still trying to find more appreciation for. Still—and this may or may not be a poetry thing (if there is such a thing)—but I dislike explicitly sexual description, in any form. I guess what it comes down to, to me, is not ever feeling like I see it done in a new way, in a way that I wouldn't see in a bad erotica novel. I'm definitely not saying this is a bad piece of erotica, just that the way my taste runs, I have a hard time seeing how the language works differently. I know lots of my poet friends are probably shaking their heads and/or rolling their eyes at this point, but I am trying.
All in all, I much preferred the first two sections to the third. There was some lovely imagery, and ideas I could wrap my head around, but that were still surprising and new.
All in all, I much preferred the first two sections to the third. There was some lovely imagery, and ideas I could wrap my head around, but that were still surprising and new.
February 24, 2017
I don’t often read modern poets, or classic poetry, to be honest. But reading more like Laux’s wouldn’t be be bad. It’s dark at times, I’ve heard her more recent poetry is on the lighter side, but her first poems are deeply personal and very much alive.
On the Back Porch was my favorite from the collection, funny enough it was also the one my dad heard on NPR which originally sparked my interest in her work… it perfectly showcased my love for simplicity in life.
While I’d rather not read about the heavier topics in this collection, what was shared was chilling and well written. I’ll definitely be checking out more of her work in the future.
On the Back Porch was my favorite from the collection, funny enough it was also the one my dad heard on NPR which originally sparked my interest in her work… it perfectly showcased my love for simplicity in life.
While I’d rather not read about the heavier topics in this collection, what was shared was chilling and well written. I’ll definitely be checking out more of her work in the future.
November 20, 2010
This is an easy to read, wonderful poet. There is a poem in here about a child who lost a tooth and woke up to find under her pillow a coin with glitter glued on and even toothfairy glitter steps across the room to her bed. The poem then tells of the problems of her parents, the break up of their marriage, the hardships of most of her childhood and then lookng back at that glitter covered coin. It was just a wonderful poem. Best of all? There are other wonderful poems in this book. It is not a whole book with only one good poem. I loved it all.
September 9, 2009
Dorianne Laux's first collection of poems (published in 1990) stabs and sears me with its unflinching unfolding of family trauma. Especially strong on first (and second and third) reading are "Two Pictures of My Sister," "What My Father Told Me," "Awake," and the fleshly pleasures marked in "China" and "The Laundromat."
November 2, 2007
A new edition from EWU Press of this stunning first book by one of the most remarkable women writing today. Intense, vivid, heartbreaking and full of hope--I've been waiting a long time to read this book. Out of print for years, impossible to find until now--yay!
February 22, 2009
Poetry. 'On The Back Porch' was posted on 'The Writers Almanac' site recently. That poem really resonated with me. I enjoyed reading some other poems of hers, but the Back Porch poem is still my favorite.
January 13, 2011
It's possible I shouldn't read Laux. The writings of her abuse are too close to the bone, perhaps. But I'm drawn to the clarity she makes. I know what she describes is real, and I'm grateful to see it hard on the page.
August 20, 2007
The poems in this are raw and amazing.
August 21, 2007
raw, real, and so damn beautiful.
February 23, 2008
this is the second book i've read by dorianne laux. she's fearless . . . check out the poem "Quarter To Six" . ..
February 16, 2008
The only reason I don't give it five stars is that "Smoke" carries that rating from me, and "Smoke" is one of the few truly perfect books of poems I've ever read.
March 20, 2011
Yes, Dorianne. Yes.
February 12, 2009
It's got heart, voice, and shiveringly good images. What else do you need in a book of poetry?
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January 3, 2011"Aphasia," a poem of Doriane Laux's, was Broadsided on November 1, 2010 -- see it at http://www.broadsidedpress.org/more10...
April 24, 2010
I loved this collection, but how can a poet writing about being born in Augusta misspell Hallowell?
February 10, 2024
Some poems in here are downright chilling.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews