The Fates

Poetry. Joanne Clarkson's THE FATES is a relentlessly engaging collection; you'll be hooked from the start. 'Anything can be spun: mare's tail, thistle, / free will. My task is dust / and the sticky milk of love, ' she writes, assuming the guise of one of her three presiding goddesses. Like them, she spins, measures, and cuts--birth, life, and death--with language as her vital thread. Whether exploring her personal history or the stories of widows coping with grief, at almost every turn Clarkson draws from her broad experience as a hospice nurse. These poems display a deep compassion; their wisdom has been earned; and always they guide us toward finding ways 'to beat back blues / and yellows, every bruise, and just release / into the terrible need to live.' --Richard Foerster