High Wire Step

by Magdalena Ball

High Wire Step is a collection of poems that engages deeply with political issues, from the impact of violence, opression and human arrogance to the power of empathy, collective consciousness, and humility. The varied voices in these poems are often playful and post-modern while keeping a fiercely scientific perspective, encompassing collective grief and responsibility, and drawing together the macro persective of the universe with the micro perspective of heartbreak. These are poems about the impact of greed, bigotry, social change, genetic inheritance, homelessness, disability and loss, but they are also poems with a slightly mystical slant, exploring transcendence and alternative forms of power and transformation From the technological singularity to crypto-currency, edible crickets to Trump Tower, High Wire Step moves organically between time and space, between an urban and a wild landscape and between despair and hopefulness.

88 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2018

About the author

Magdalena Ball runs Compulsive Reader http://www.compulsivereader.com. Her stories, poetry, reviews and articles have appeared in many printed anthologies and journals, and have won several awards. She is the author of Bobish, The Density of Compact Bone, Unmaking Atoms, Black Cow, Repulsion Thrust, The Art of Assessment, Quark Soup, Sleep Before Evening and many other collaborations. Find out more at http://www.magdalenaball.com

Reviews

[Jayant Kashyap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ball is aptly scientific, as she was in her debut poetry collection ‘Repulsion Thrust’. What she’s added here this time is a political vision, which trumps up the collection for better. With time, she’s learnt making her words more meaningful ... and her collections more and more beautiful.

[Johanna Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a jagged, pioneer voice pulling us in to face squarely the personal challenges we'd rather avoid.