Horses Where the Answers Should Have Been

by Chase Twichell

ISBN: 9781852248673

Published: 2010

Chase Twichell's poetry is marked by a strong identification with the natural world, one that exceeds any with other human beings. There's a dissociation born of a rough childhood, which only the later poems address head-on, though many earlier ones circle around it. Central early concerns are the heartbreak of love between men and women, the ecological decimation of our planet, and the nature of the human mind. Horses Where the Answers Should Have Been shows the evolution of a distinctive voice in American poetry through several collections written over 35 years. Beginning with "Perdido" (1991), each of her collections has had a distinct centre of gravity, with each poem contributing to a whole larger than the sum of its parts. Perdido probes the relationship between love and death. "The Ghost of Eden" (1995) grieves and rails against our poor stewardship of the earth. "The Snow Watcher" (1998) chronicles the early years of her study of Zen Buddhism - a crucial influence on all...