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Waiting for the Light
Winner of the 2017 National Jewish Book Award, poetry category
What is it like living today in the chaos of a city that is at once brutal and beautiful, heir to immigrant ancestors "who supposed their children's children would be rich and free?" What is it to live in the chaos of a world driven by "intolerable, unquenchable human desire?" How do we cope with all the wars? In the midst of the dark matter and dark energy of the universe, do we know what train we're on? In this cornucopia of a book, Ostriker finds herself immersed in phenomena ranging from a first snowfall in New York City to the Tibetan diaspora, asking questions that have no reply, writing poems in which "the arrow may be blown off course by storm and returned by miracle."
What is it like living today in the chaos of a city that is at once brutal and beautiful, heir to immigrant ancestors "who supposed their children's children would be rich and free?" What is it to live in the chaos of a world driven by "intolerable, unquenchable human desire?" How do we cope with all the wars? In the midst of the dark matter and dark energy of the universe, do we know what train we're on? In this cornucopia of a book, Ostriker finds herself immersed in phenomena ranging from a first snowfall in New York City to the Tibetan diaspora, asking questions that have no reply, writing poems in which "the arrow may be blown off course by storm and returned by miracle."
- GenresPoetry
96 pages, Paperback
Published February 14, 2017
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About the author
Alicia Suskin Ostriker
49 books31 followersAlicia Suskin Ostriker is an American poet and scholar who writes Jewish feminist poetry.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 6, 2018
What comes alive in Waiting for the Light is the deep spirit within the poet and the world around her as it influences and inspires her. The eyes with which Alicia Ostriker sees the world are realistic, yet full of empathy, appreciation, and sometimes a haunting sorrow, and because of all that, those eyes are highly perceptive and privileged.
This collection is divided into four parts, and city scenes--mostly of New York City and a couple for Guyana and Bangladesh, and diversity of cultures and socio-political issues abound in all of the parts. The fourth part, I found to be more philosophical and universal than the others. There are also the questioning poems where excellent questions are asked and sometimes answered with another question. The last line of the last poem has a trick question that will stick to my mind forever. “Did the Stone Age end because of a lack of stones?” So will the first line in Red Red Rose “When you take off your mask, what is your true address?”
Many poems stand out for me. Among them, in How Unfortunate the Boy, the poet’s compassion shines for all the people involved in a taxi accident. Then, while the poet is sitting in a park, there is the untethered expression of joy because the Mariachis are singing in Cinco de Mayo. The feminist side of the poet is strong, too. In Afghanistan: The Raped Girl, she relates with rage the incident of how women are unjustly treated because family honor is above everything. Then in reference to her mother, she says, “she for whom honor // was not a concept, she from whom I learned // liberty and fury, our weapons in this world.”
This collection is divided into four parts, and city scenes--mostly of New York City and a couple for Guyana and Bangladesh, and diversity of cultures and socio-political issues abound in all of the parts. The fourth part, I found to be more philosophical and universal than the others. There are also the questioning poems where excellent questions are asked and sometimes answered with another question. The last line of the last poem has a trick question that will stick to my mind forever. “Did the Stone Age end because of a lack of stones?” So will the first line in Red Red Rose “When you take off your mask, what is your true address?”
Many poems stand out for me. Among them, in How Unfortunate the Boy, the poet’s compassion shines for all the people involved in a taxi accident. Then, while the poet is sitting in a park, there is the untethered expression of joy because the Mariachis are singing in Cinco de Mayo. The feminist side of the poet is strong, too. In Afghanistan: The Raped Girl, she relates with rage the incident of how women are unjustly treated because family honor is above everything. Then in reference to her mother, she says, “she for whom honor // was not a concept, she from whom I learned // liberty and fury, our weapons in this world.”
Displaying 1 of 1 review