Our Fortunes

by Julie Kalendek

Poetry. The poems in this book send intense probes into the depth of emotion, and at the same time play out an elliptical music of perceptions. Kalendek combines abstractions with a solid groundedness in the body and seems to compress untold tales into lines of energy. We could also say, the poems are the visible light surrounding an event too close to be seen in itself. Julie Kalendek was born in Baltimore. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University and is production manager for a nursery in northern Maryland that specializes in ornamental grasses, ferns and bamboo. She has published a chapbook, THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE (also carried by SPD), and a superb translation of the book-length poem, A Lesson in Music, by the French avant garde poet Jean Daive. Her poems have appeared in magazines like o.blek, Avec, Chain, and lingo. OUR FORTUNES is her first full book.

56 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[Zoe Tuck]

“oracles on a whim


not cleared to dream
while propped on pillows
I wreak and shriek


the corner of a Roman wall
a spiritless pyramid, a broad promenade
a splendid monument to mark your name


(in a closed church, one forgotten candle)


some victories we are not equipped to handle”