Clay men. Tree women. Post-rape brunch dates. In And I Shall Again Be Virtuous, Natalie Eilbert crafts a poignant, brutal narrative where one woman seeks to create (and destroy) the patriarchy with her bare hands. And I Shall Again Be Virtuous is a vivid and visceral examination of artifice—of the details we choose to contain or omit in the layering of artistic ideas—and how we can (n)ever separate ourselves from the horrible horrors in which we create.
Reading these poems is kind of like watching someone slowly opening their ribcage to show you their heart and how it has been damaged and how it's healing itself to become stronger, more fierce. A brave and hard-won accomplishment.