Wolf Inventory

by Zefyr Lisowski

This micro-chapbook is a part of the 2018 Ghost City Press Summer Micro-Chap Series.

Genres: Poetry

13 pages, ebook

First published May 30, 2018

About the author

Zefyr Lisowski is the author of Uncanny Valley Girls, an essay collection about horror movies, exes, and intimacy (Harper Perennial 2025). A 2023 NYFA/NYSCA Fellow in Nonfiction and 2023 Queer|Art Fellow, she’s also the author of two poetry collections, Girl Work (Noemi Press 2024) and Blood Box (Black Lawrence 2019). Raised in the Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Zefyr lives in Brooklyn and has seen grave robbers twice.

Reviews

[Alexandra]

A fantastic little chapbook.

Lisowksi is a master at imagery and word use. "Wolf Inventory" is just a great title by itself, but her words are creative and engaging.

...The smell inside the glen, between the bodies,
it's smoky and like a tongue. ...

...Beneath your teeth are more teeth—an arithmetic of addition,...

...I surround myself with goo, bone broth, hoard facts like they could ever keep me safe...

She challenges beautiful word use. I thought about how I would use "goo" in a sentence in a poem and imagined I would fail to make it as imaginative and alluring as Lisowski does. There is a snap in her pieces that makes my imagination jolt and I loved it. I'll definitely be returning to Wolf Inventory again and I'm looking forward to reading more of Lisowski's work.

[erika]

”Darling, do you remember me, and what you did? If my skin is burning to pieces it’s only for you.”

Incredible poems worth more than just one read... make that ten, fifteen. Zefyr’s a master at putting beautiful words together and making you feel what they felt. *-*

[Erin]

We need these poems now. This is such an essential grouping of work.

[❄Elsa Frost❄]

TW for sexual assault

I like how this addresses sexual assault in an honest way. Also, the wolves as a metaphor is great!!

[Amanda]

a passionate suite of poems