“She sprinkles her poems with hyphenated word pairs that spice the poems in meaningful ways. . . . She has built a solid foundation to continue growing and producing reputable work such as this volume.”—Roundup
“Narrative, lyric, and deeply human, Tacey’s poems open to a world of folk and spirit where so few of us have ever dwelled. Her songs waste no words. Her stories are the stuff of hallowed ground. It is with a wonder of word and image that she shows us the strength and beauty of the Diyin Diné’é way.”—Jim Barnes, author of The American Book of the Dead: Poems
“‘How long had my hands / been scalded in dishwater, grabbing for knives or forks,’ writes Tacey Atsitty in this marvelous debut collection. Steeped in Navajo culture, Tacey Atsitty writes a poetry where rain, expected to be nourishing, is also a torrent, burning with sensation. Her poetry, formally resourceful and resonant, suffuses elegy with insight and prayer.”—Arthur Sze, author of Compass Rose
“Surprising inventions of syntax and subjectivity serve a poetics at once visionary and imbued with the grit of existence. Tempered by hardship, seasoned with experience, this brilliant book witnesses a world Atsitty knows intimately and, in doing so, offers courageous testimony to suffering and spiritual resilience. I can think of no poet writing today whose work is more gorgeous or moving, no one who brings more heart or brains to the page.”—Alice Fulton, author of Barely Composed: Poems
