Overview

A delightful and surprising book of revelations - about critters and life. The poems we encounter in Mordenski's menagerie-songs, really, of crows and cows, of squirrels and butterflies and (of course) dogs-glow with insight, lyricism, and grace. By way of Mordenski's poetry, readers will come to see the animals we share the world with in a new light, in which ""everything on earth/is as it is in the heavens . . . a cold but glittering gift.""

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9781950744305

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Reviews

Jan Mordenski's powerful collection, Blue Prairie of Darkness, reveals an important voice that speaks to our challenging times. Her work is filled with undeciphered moons and the poetry of squirrels; the wise hesitation of love and the hard white bones of clouds; folksongs sung from branches and hunger translating into any language. Her vision is not afraid to face the world's sorrow and chase it ""like a littered wind."" ""Chiquita"" is one of those indelible poems. It reflects the deep humanity of the narrator as they witness a beloved dog's passing. In its simple truth, this poem confronts and-in ways only nuanced art can-comforts us. Throughout her chapbook, Mordenski's generous heart celebrates our connection to quiet yet profound miracles: embracing the personal (a father's assurance in the natural order of things) and the universal (a crow's brazen grace as it wakes the sun). And, in this fragile time, in this vulnerable world, isn't this the poetry we need? To remind us of ""a small / measure of justice, crumbs cast on the cold winds of survival, / one more branch...reaching toward that sky."" -Linda Nemec Foster, poet and author of The Blue Divide and Bone Country ""Why is it women cannot look at animals,"" asks Jan Mordenski, ""without thinking a relationship is at stake?"" A good question. And one that is answered intimately throughout Blue Prairie of Darkness. Like Sirius illuminating the night sky in ""Dog Days of Summer,"" the poems we encounter in Mordenski's menagerie-songs, really, of crows and cows, of squirrels and butterflies and (of course) dogs-glow with insight, lyricism, and grace. By way of Mordenski's poetry, readers will come to see the animals we share the world with in a new light, in which ""everything on earth / is as it is in the heavens . . . a cold but glittering gift."" Why indeed! -Phillip Sterling, author of Local Congregation: Poems Uncollected 1985-2015 In Blue Prairie of Darkness, Jan Mordenski writes with luminous precision and unwavering compassion for the animal world. Birds become ""the cold black beads of an abacus,"" migration carries ""a twig of nostalgia, a hard seed of longing,"" and a beloved dog's final journey rests in the quiet truth: El último viaje es silencioso. A city rendered dogless in December holds, still, ""the shadow of a wagging tail."" Cows filing past a Kerry road regard three women in a car with ""the thoughtful ascension of the eyes, / as if to say, If you cannot change the road home, / just keep walking."" What the speaker offers the squirrels at her door is not charity but ""a small measure of justice."" These poems do not sentimentalize nature - they inhabit it. Mordenski's creatures are not symbols but presences; she allows them their full weight in the world. Her patience feels like love. Blue Prairie of Darkness is a humane and deeply attentive chapbook that lingers long after the final page. -Diane DeCillis, author of When the Heart Needs a Stunt Double

Author Information

Jan Mordenski is a native Detroiter who received her bachelor's degree from WSU's Monteith College and her master's from Wayne State's English Department, with a concentration in Poetry Writing and Folklore Studies. She taught those two subjects, along with various courses in American and World Literature at Mercy High School for thirty-seven years. Her poetry has appeared in journals across the U.S. as well as in Canada, Ireland, Australia, England and Singapore. Most notably Ted Kooser chose her poem ""Crochet"" to be part of his American Life in Poetry series. Aside from writing, she spends time on photography, art, playing liturgical and folk music.

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