Incandescent

The poems in Emilie Buchwald's lyrical new collection celebrate both the thrills and remorselessness of childhood and the insights and confidence that come with maturity. Buchwald shares her dreams as well as her concerns about the world we find ourselves living in, and succeeds also in capturing more than once the precious wordless exchanges of intimacy that take place between seasoned couples.

We accompany her as she relives memories in "Riding the Waves at Rockaway" and "Camp Bugler." In "Making Bread" she crams an astonishing world of experience into seven short lines, combining "child's paste," "wild god of yeast," and "risen belly" into an evocative whole that takes us suggestively beyond the bread that we can almost smell.

Nature is everywhere in these poems, from the "tiny pink Dutch shoes" of the redbud tree, gone too soon, to the description of ravens' hitting the ridges of a Palm trees "with a hard thunk, like marines on a mission." We hear echoes of history, as Buchwald reflects poignantly on her father's enjoyment of I Love Lucy in his favorite chair, while never forgetting the language and customs he was forced to leave behind.

The process of aging, what we keep, what we give up, is examined. Cutting back a household plant leads her to question what she might cut back about herself in order to "linger in sun and air."

Poet Connie Wanek has aptly described Buchwald's new collection as "spare and beautifully crafted," and poet Janisse Ray praises the "beguiling weave of experiences" they display. Writer/editor Emilio DeGrazia comments: "Emilie Buchwald gifts us a book radiant with heart, mind, and meaning." The poems in Incandescent are a testament to a life fully lived and appreciated.