Grit & Whimsy

Hussy. Harpy. Crone. Iphigenia Queen Gluttony and Mona Lisa. Voices that inhabit this collection sing with bold and compelling female force. These are Shakti poems work that hums with the often angry always outspoken mien of the Hindu goddess whose name means the power. With satire with wit with notable imagery and music Karen Braucher Tobin gives us a Poemata Feminea powered by considerable candor and arresting inventiveness.--Paulann Petersen Oregon Poet Laureate EmeritaIn Grit & Whimsy some of Karen Braucher Tobins poems are unhappy denizens of the real world the world of MBAs and plastic food trays of trading briefcase and heels for diaper stench and baby upchuck. But then other poems majestically and joyfully take flight. A swan boat leaves its wake Sylvia Plath doesnt die a doctor offers chirpy little pamphlets. Its quite a ride and at each stop youll find revelation after revelation the highest order of wit and Horaces Omnes una manet nox: the same night that awaits us all.--John Surowiecki author of Missing Persons and Flies