Ceremonial
- 2018 INDIES Finalist
- Finalist, Poetry (Adult Nonfiction)
How to prepare for this collection? Pick your teeth with an axe after chewing on some freshly split ash. Carly Joy Miller is relentless. She doesn’t want you to breathe normally. Her lines resemble piano wire around the neck of a scary clown. But they also reward with her uncanny sense for knowing just when to lower the heat, just when to acknowledge her better angels. A contributing editor at Poetry International, her work has appeared in Gulf Coast, Boston Review, The Adroit Journal, and other publications. This collection won The 2017 Orison Poetry Prize a year after her chapbook, Like a Beast, claimed first place in the 2016 Rick Campbell Prize.
Why You Tried to Drown
Little soul, pulled
down like a drum. Hook-line.
Sinker. You swore there was gold
at the bottom of the lake,
swore the lake wanted you
to wear its mossy skirt.
Yes, you looked gorgeous,
moths pitched white
as barrettes in your hair.
Little air, little sediment-coated
tongue. Holy Nothing is a trickster:
oh to be young, yes young,
and lopsided in faith.
Reviewed by
Matt Sutherland
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
