Luck

by Liz Ahl

"Liz Ahl isn’t afraid to stand still and bear witness to the tick of daylight creeping across the yard, taking infinite pleasure in the quotidian thing, but she is also not afraid to stand up and dance, to bring us the full-throated joy of the take-no-prisoners, talk-to-the-hand-cause-the-girl-ain’t-listenin’ funk. These poems resurrect our faith in a kaleidoscopic world of old gamblers and sultry perennials, Gideons and skaterboys, abandoned toys and girls luminous with guitars. Luck has nothing to do with it; Liz Ahl is a poet of great skill and grace."
—Ann Hudson, author of The Armillary Sphere

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Liz Ahl is a poet and teacher who lives in New Hampshire. Her most recent poetry collection, Beating the Bounds, was published in 2017 by Hobblebush Books. Her poems have appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Measure, Prairie Schooner, Sinister Wisdom, Lavender Review, and North American Review, among other journals. Her work has also been included in several anthologies, including Show Us Your Papers (Main Street Rag, 2020), Nasty Women Poets (Lost Horse Press, 2017), and This Assignment Is So Gay (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2013), among others. Her first chapbook, A Thirst That’s Partly Mine, won the 2008 Slapering Hol chapbook contest. She has been awarded residencies at Jentel, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, the Vermont Studio Center, the Playa Artist Residency Program, and the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow.

Reviews

[Michelle Hannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A writer said to me recently, "Poetry is the bare bones of writing." It inspired me to read some poetry, so I pulled out this little chapbook of gems. "Feeding the House" brought to mind creaky, sub-zero Adirondack winter nights hoping the fuel oil in the tank outside had enough additive that it wouldn't slush up and stop the boiler. That cold prompted us to flee south. "Letter, August" captures perfectly the "entropy" of seemingly endless, steamy summer days. The poems aren't all about weather, however they do all evoke feeling in a way that is truly an art form.