Loose Woman: Poems
by Sandra Cisneros
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Loose Woman: Seductive, earthy, at times confessional, Sandra Cisneros' vibrant new collection of poetry celebrates the female aspects of love -- from the reflective to the overtly erotic -- in a voice recognizable from her powerful works of fiction. These poems offer narratives as formally elegant as they are emotional and accessible. They are bound together by the voice of one woman, whose language spans cultures and continents. She is a woman who finds great strength from her roots in the show more barrio, and who knows better than to take herself too seriously, even as she struggles with the anguish of making sense -- and making love -- in a world she feels compelled to write about. With a multiplicity of moods tumbling through its lines -- joyous and introspective, tender and ruthless, self-mocking and sincere, often funny and sometimes wild and rude -- Loose Woman offers intoxicating poems of extraordinary insight and vivid imagining. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
I discovered this collection in high school, soon after it came out, and was enamored with it. The language, the style, the risque subjects, and the pure style of it...everything sucked me in, and the book was part of made me fall in love with poetry. Coming back to it as an adult, I think a lot of what I feel for the poems here is nostalgia-based, and many of the poems feel a little too easy or unfinished, but there are still poems which scream meaning from the page in the best way possible. Cisneros' images and clear, demanding voice hold the collection together in a way that works really well, and while I'd love to have more from some of the poems here--and part of me wonders if this collection could only have been published in the show more mid-90s--there are so many moments in this collection that make me smile. I enjoy the angst of it--moments I'd not want to live in, but which are well worth revisiting for the pure aliveness of them. show less
"what is the good of being close to heaven if our souls have business with the angels but our peepees so much to do with earth"
This was the first book of poems that gave me permission to write whatever I wanted; it was the first book to show me that poetry doesn't have to rhyme or submit to a traditional form or theme. It's sassy freeverse at its best.
Totally a personal taste thing, and two or three of these poems really worked even through my "meh".
Yes it's Latina poetry. ?áBut it's totally accessible - powerful on a level anyone (so long as they're not squeamish) can appreciate.
Some lines:
... love needs a smudged wink. ?áI think."
"This is how I would paint you.
...
Both nude and naked to my pleasure."
"Girlfriend, I believe in Gandhi.
?áBut some nights nothing says it
?áquite precise like a Lone Star
?ácracked on someone's head."
Too long to quote, but only fully appreciable in its entirety, is Bay Poem from Berkeley."
Some lines:
... love needs a smudged wink. ?áI think."
"This is how I would paint you.
...
Both nude and naked to my pleasure."
"Girlfriend, I believe in Gandhi.
?áBut some nights nothing says it
?áquite precise like a Lone Star
?ácracked on someone's head."
Too long to quote, but only fully appreciable in its entirety, is Bay Poem from Berkeley."
Cisneros’ collection of racy, sexy poems about love, life and family and politics, are sure to captivate her readers. She is very vivid and forceful with her free verse and due to its content; I would only recommend this book for students in the upper grades. A class in creative writing would find this collection useful because students will be able to relate to Cisneros’ poignant words.
A vibrant book of poetry. I love her style. It felt so alive. She has excellent verb choice.
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Author Information
30+ Works 19,115 Members
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 20, 1954. She received a B.A. in English from Loyola University of Chicago in 1976 and a M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Iowa in 1978. She has worked as a college recruiter, an arts administrator, a teacher to high school dropouts, and a poet. She has also visited numerous show more colleges around the country as a visiting writer. She has written numerous books including The House on Mango Street, Caramelo, Loose Woman, Have You Seen Marie?, and A House of My Own: Stories from My Life. She has received numerous awards including the MacArthur Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, the Lannan Literary Award, the American Book Award, and the Thomas Wolfe Prize. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Original publication date
- 1994
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- Members
- 662
- Popularity
- 43,474
- Reviews
- 9
- Rating
- (4.02)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 1
