Cold River: Poems

by Joan Larkin

Desire and survival in the Age of AIDS.

"In Cold River, Joan Larkin's poems move deeper than ever into grief and tenderness and praise, her own wild and quiet voice the embodiment of desire". -- Jean Valentine

"I return to Joan Larkin's poems again and again beacause I love their clarity, their revelatory strength, their allegiance to something like history and their great and surprising humor. But there is more. The poems in this little book that face AIDS are certainly some of the bravest and most eloquent ones on the subject". -- Michael Klein
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"I love Joan Larkin's poems, for their music, their tensile strength, their truthfulness, their clarity...". -- Adrienne Rich

The powerful poems of desire and survival in Joan Larkin's long-awaited third collection are remarkable for their honesty and memorable language. In Cold River, the prize-winning poet faces AIDS, loss, aging, and love between women with courage, depth, and wit.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Lesbian, Queer

42 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a practice that with each new poetry book I read, I place a small dot in the table of contents next to the poems that gave me chills. Of the twenty-one poems collected here, I have placed dots next to twelve. I loved this book. I read it twice in one hour. I have already recommended it to three people and tonight will read at least six of these poems out loud to my partner before we go to bed. I will find her other two books, soon, and read them as well. Like Dan Bellm's "One Hand on the Steering Wheel," I feel many of these poems could have come out of me, and I'm jealous some of them didn't!

[Hallie Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

stunning in its simplicity and attention. some of my favorites: sonnet positive; a review; in the duchess; want; blue slipper; cold river; jewish cemetery, west roxbury; legacy; robert