The Flame of Her Will

by Phoebe Reeves

This chapbook consists of an erasure of part of the Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of the Witches), a witch-hunting text published and translated repeatedly across Europe through the 16th century and retranslated into English as late as 1928, from which this chapbook’s text is drawn. It is disturbingly relevant for today, as the poet explains in her Foreword:

These poems are…brought to you now with a renewed feeling of urgency, as the Supreme Court rescinds the bodily autonomy of women (any uterus-having person, by most of these laws’ definitions) and states race to enact ever-tightening laws controlling us. We must all remember for how brief a time women, trans, intersex, and nonbinary folk have had even imperfect legal rights to themselves, and how easily such rights can be erased….

If…witches are “a vast political movement, an organized society…a world-wide plot,” then perhaps it is time for us all to claim the name of “Witch.”

Genres: Poetry

29 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2022

About the author

Phoebe Reeves earned her MFA in poetry at Sarah Lawrence College and now is Professor of English at the University of Cincinnati’s Clermont College. She has three chapbooks of poetry, The Lobes and Petals of the Inanimate (Pecan Grove), The Gardener and The Garden (Seven Kitchens), and The Flame of Her Will (Milk & Cake). Her poems have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Phoebe, Grist, Forklift OH, and The Chattahoochee Review, and she has been awarded fellowships by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Vermont Studio Center. She lives in Cincinnati, OH with her husband Don Peteroy, amidst her unruly urban garden. Her first full length collection, Helen of Bikini, is forthcoming in March 2023 from Lily Poetry.

Reviews

[Fie (eventyrlaeseren) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Flame of Her Will” by Phoebe Reeves is a beautifully crafted poetry chapbook.
While reading it, I found myself even more resolved to fight tooth and nail for all of my fellow “sisters” rights and freedoms that should concretely be ours. Moving and powerful, this book rests on my nightstand and has been reread numerous times as a reminder of what has happened and what will happen again if we do not fight injustice.

[Zeynep · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5

[♡ rey · Rating 5 out of 5]

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