The Density of Compact Bone

by Magdalena Ball

'In The Density of Compact Bone , Magdalena Ball stuns with her elegantly constructed paean to earth, sky, water and her requiem to loss, both ecological and personal. Luxuriating in finely crafted imagery of plant and bird life and intimate personal portraiture, this poetry collection teems with meticulously sculpted syntax, skilfully assured language choices and masterfully wry, wistful, wishful wisdom. From the atomic to the astronomic, the poet bears heart-aching witness to our "hardwired to self-destruct' "neon excess". A love song to beauty and loss riddled with existential questions and shattering observations, blending mystery, myth and metamorphosis, this work is both organically inventive and ingeniously self-aware.' - Anne Casey
'"Begin with tears. There will not be enough", Magdalena Ball starts the poem "How to make Lokshen Kugel", an apt metaphor for so many of these apocalyptic poems that address the trials that time presents to us. It is Ball's response to these challenges that is truly breathtaking. As she concludes the poem "Mitzvah", "Your voice carries. / You are setting yourself free / you are free."' - Charles Rammelkamp
'Magdalena Ball's poems are replete with images and symbols and sometimes pictorial representations of our guilt and desires. Her poems sometimes sing of the extinct creatures who breathed their last to question us for our inhuman actions, nature and its "objective correlative' in poetic diction. Magdalena Ball captivates her readers with cogitations on dreams, failures, moments of joy and despair, contemplations of serious existential truths and quest for the same. Her poems transport us to a land of ecstasy, the parabolic pathway of moving away and returning to the same trajectory of existence with a new promise or at least a complacency of some kind, or just a sense of well-being. Her poems are a must-read!' - Ketaki Datta

Genres: Poetry

102 pages, Paperback

Published October 28, 2021

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

[Carolyn Wilhelm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meaningful and Marvelous

Magdalena Ball’s The Density of Compact Bone is a rich, complex book with multiple meanings, drawing in the reader’s own unique life experiences in a way which is both meaningful and moving. The work explores such topics as overconsumption and landfills:

The billboard
flashing in neon
excess buy buy buy bye
hardwired to self-destruct.

As well as combining personal loss as in the end of a relationship or life with ecological loss, like climate change:

I know this is something we share
raising a glass, not thinking too much
about the uncomfortable fact
that that we’re sliding
towards an edge.

It is hard to justice to such a wonderful book with prosaic words, but the book takes us on a journey that “begins with tears” and ends with regeneration and empathy for what is imperfect in our lives, hearts, and history:

There will already be chips. There is no perfect crockery.

If you’ve never read poetry, open this book with an open mind and open ear. There is plenty to explore here and much to learn.