Marriage Map

Poetry. The poems of Owen Lewis's MARRIAGE MAP take their inspiration from Athena's owl that had the ability to enlighten the goddess's dark side. It is the same owl that flies 'beyond the moon' in the poem 'Two Dreams, ' the same owl that flies up the stairwell in a house haunted and defined by separation, the same owl that 'skims the night river/like a single wing/of the moon, ' and the same owl--in a figure of hard-earned wisdom--that finally offers its example to lovers who also 'mean to fly, ' to be made whole beyond 'the names of loss' and life's inevitable 'mingling of hurts.' Aware as they are that each day becomes history, these deeply felt, unsparing, wise, and urgently crafted poems chart a passage to recovery, healing, celebration. Owen Lewis's MARRIAGE MAP has the feel of hard-won truth--poetry that knows its territory.--Daniel Tobin