Kazimierz Square

by Karen Chase

A collection of power and humor in earthy eroticism, invoking both the fever and hope in wakeful dreams. A bold work of the elegiac past and the visceral present converging in provocative imagery. There is often an undercurrent of longing in Chase's poems--the longing of hunger, of sex, of unfinished business with the dead. Central to the collection is the title poem, a spiraling nightmare that explores the messy and terrifying commingling of religion, death and history's unpardonable sins.

74 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

Reviews

[Sara Dye · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5, rounded down.

[Marisela Chavez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the title poem for a feel of all of Chase's talent. A taste:

The soldier in the truck likes my brown hair,/gives me a saucer of melted butter./A hatchet in the corner./I lick the butter,/grease over my teeth, he feeds/me dough, runs his hand down my spine,/no one has touched me in a long time,/flour, butter, sugar kneaded together.