“By Morning”
A evocative poem that recalls how the sharp, angular lines of the city can be softened and reshaped by the arrival of snow overnight.
“Deciding”
A playful discourse on the gender identity and the poet’s lesbianism.
The complicated anatomy of the mythological creature of the title lends a symbolic meaning to this story of a little girl out playing in a grove in her pretty dress seemingly as content as possible until the imagery of her accessories starts to sink in: her brother’s belt and jackknife. Gender confusing was never presented so beautifully.
“Water Picture”
A seemingly convention poem taking a trite subject like what is seen in a reflection is transformed into something a bit more deeper and unexpected through the absurdism of reflected in the imagery of the reflected images.
“The Truth is Forced”
A poem confronting the irony of trying to use wordplay and language games to mask one’s true identity since it only stimulates the desire in others to solve the puzzle.
“The Woods at Night”
Entry into the woods when all birds are sleeping except their predatory cousin, the owl.
“Blue/A Trellis for R.”
A poem in the shape of a trellis that examines the confusion of gender identity as a part of lesbian sexual experience.
“Southbound on the Freeway”
An alien observing earth is convinced that its cars are its dominant creatures.
“Rusty Autumn”
In which the oxydizing hue of fall becomes the autumn of the poet’s childhood.
“Fountain Piece”
The confusing perceptual disruption in the image of a bird perching on a wing of an angel statute in a fountain sets the stage for a contemplation on the way art is dependent upon creating reality while also providing for an imaginative sense of the unreal.
“God”
God is defined here as the name given to a thing that was said to be ever permanent, but could never be found to prove it.
“Landing on the Moon”
A celebration of the technological achievements of the NASA space program within the context of providing the world with a perspective it had never known before.
“The Poet as Anti-Specialist”
The space program continues to wield influence over Swenson’s imagination as she expresses her outright envy for that astronauts are given the opportunity to do.
“Pigeon Woman”
She lives in New York and she is as quirky as one would suspect.
“The Lightning”
One of Swenson’s many experiments with architecture of the words in her verse in which jagged empty space between the words becomes the lightning.
“Flying Home from Utah”
A fascinating consideration of perception. The passenger in the plane looks down upon the landscape below and imagines herself as a giant towering over the people below while the people on the ground view the jet made by tiny distance as an tiny bug.
“Black Tuesday”
Both a shape poem and a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. the verse takes the shape of a flag lowered to half-mast.
“Bleeding”
The bleeder is on the left. The knife is on the right. And white space meanders vertically through the poem, separating the two.
“Feel Me”
A poem inspired by the dying words of the poet’s father “Feel me to do right.”
“Fable for When There’s No Way Out”
The narrator describes the efforts of a baby bird struggling to break out of its shell.
