Your Skin is a Country
In high school we all swam
where the Missouri and Mississippi meet,
at the point where the currents cross,
where the rivers, as one river
could turn suddenly and seize my legs,
huge hands and muddy knuckles wrapped
around my calves and thighs, cramping the muscles,
hauling me under, only to let me go finally in a new place.
--from “Swimming Where the Mississippi
and Missouri Meet”
She speaks in a wholly original voice, forthright and respectful of the reader, and she opens to us a world of subtle perceptions, drawn with delicacy and truth.
--Erika Mumford
If you can, buy from your local independent bookseller! We need bookstores in our towns and cities as public spaces where we can meet new people and run into friends, as places where we can browse freely, and as small businesses that support our local economies. You also can order directly from Alice James Books to support small-press publishing.
