Fierce Elegy - Peter Gizzi

\nPeter Gizzi's powerful new collection reminds us that the elegy is lament but also--as it has been for centuries--a work of love \n \nPeter Gizzi has said that the elegy is a mode that can transform a broken heart in a fierce world into a fierce heart in a broken world. For Gizzi, ferocity can be reimagined as vulnerability, bravery and discovery, a braiding of emotional and otherworldly depth, a holding open. In Gizzi's voice joy and sorrow make a complex ecosystem. In their quest for a lyric reality, these poems remind us that elegy is lament but also--as it has been for centuries--a work of love. This new poetry, Kamau Brathwaite has written about Gizzi, taking such care of temperature--the time & details of the world--meaning the space(s) in which we live--defining love in this way. Writing along the edge. A way of writing about hope. \n \n[sample poem] \n \nCreely Song \nall that is lovely \nin words, even \nif gone to pieces \nall that is lovely \ngone, all of it \nfor love and \nautobiography \nas if I were \nwriting this \nhello, listen \nthe plan is \nthe body and \nall of it for love \nnow in pieces \nall that is lovely \nechoes still \nin life & death \nstill memory \ngardens open \nonto windows \nlovely, the charm \nthat mirrors \nall that was, all \nthat is, lovely \nin a song