Flesh of the Sun, Life Above the Ground

This collection of prize-winning poems by Barbara Blanks carries the reader through the range of human experiences. Perhaps a normal, sensible sequence would begin with Dawn, and end with Dusk or Eclipse, but she chooses to start with light and a kiss from the gods, move through the dark eclipse that sears like dragon’s breath, then feel a joyous pulse at the pinnacle of light—and have some fun along the way. Her feet might be “wet from not quite leaping over puddles” but Barb is still willing to “pull the husk away from heaven, and bite into the flesh of the sun.”