Milk Glass Mermaid

by Suzanne Keen

Sarah Kennedy writes that "Suzanne Keen's 'Milk Glass Mermaid' presents a world both dangerous and beautiful, one in which both chronology and topography are unexpectedly undermined by perception. Linked by a series of prose entries, these poem explore moments of domestic life to reveal the larger historical traces that lurk in the most quotidian details. A gas jet from an old furnace that is stamped with a swastika, an apple pie being made on 12 September 2001, a glass figurine with a hollow--and silent--interior: these small instances echo hauntingly across political and cultural boundaries." Heather Ross Miller notes that the poems are "cautionary and comic by turns, [reflecting] other worlds burning inside our own, worlds we'd better pay attention to."

84 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2007

Reviews

[Jenn Mattson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this poetry collection with its humorous twists and also dark, poignant messages about growing up and social change. Keen has the poet's sense I associate with choosing the "right word" not the "almost-right-word." Although I've heard the poet say that she is not a writer of fiction, these poems have a strong narrative quality to them, and her poems' personas are voices that you want to listen to and feel sorry when they are finished.