Emerald Ice: Selected Poems 1962-1987
by Diane Wakoski
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In 1988, at the age of fifty, Diana Wakoski selected the poems in "Emerald Ice from her first sixteen books of poetry. Here, returned to print at last, are all the famous (and infamous) lyrics, series, 'and narratives that established Wakoski as a mythologizer of sex and self, a fierce free-verse imagist, and "one of the most important and controversial poets in the United States today" "(Contemporary Poets). About these poems, Wakoski writes: "My themes are loss, justice, truth, show more transformation, the duality of the world, the possibilities of magic, and the creation of beauty out of ugliness. My language is dramatic, oral, and as American as I can make it. I am impatient with stupidity, bureaucracy, and organizations. Poetry, for me, is the supreme art of the individual using language to show how special, different, and wonderful his perceptions are. With verve and finesse. With discursive precision. Arid with utter contempt for pettiness of imagination or spirit. ""Emerald Ice is a contemporary classics the,essential poems of a uniquely American female sensibility. show lessTags
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A reread of a favorite collection of poems by one of my favorite poets. [a:Diane Wakoski|22012|Diane Wakoski|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1314383416p2/22012.jpg] explores so many themes in this collection: the multiplicity of the world, truth, justice, magic, loss, making lemonade from lemons. Her perceptions are keen, and her humor is also on full display. For example, her poem "George Washington Writes Home about Harvesting His Hemp" begins with these lines:
I won't take a lot of shit
in the name of love,
smoking it
or eating it,
or shoveling it for you
Or then there is the line that really resonated, from the poem "On the Subject of Roses,"
But no one should have to choose between Mozart and Beethoven
That is the same show more modern-day debate as Beatles vs. Rolling Stones. I love them both. Ms. Wakoski has wonderful command of language and wordplay. show less
I won't take a lot of shit
in the name of love,
smoking it
or eating it,
or shoveling it for you
Or then there is the line that really resonated, from the poem "On the Subject of Roses,"
But no one should have to choose between Mozart and Beethoven
That is the same show more modern-day debate as Beatles vs. Rolling Stones. I love them both. Ms. Wakoski has wonderful command of language and wordplay. show less
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Favorite Recent Poetry: 1980-2022
178 works; 70 members
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56+ Works 781 Members
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