The Weight of Shadows

5/5 ( ratings)

In Corey D. Cook's startling and haunting poems, we enter a world where the weight of shadows, stitched into our bodies through longing and loss, wakes us into the world of the living. It is the shadows cast upon the legacy of a woman suffering memory loss that are so indistinct they could only belong to strangers; or the shadows that consume the heart after the stillborn birth of a child. Through the power of story crafted with an experienced hand and keen eye, The Weight of Shadows opens the darkness to reveal the resiliency of the tender spaces in our human lives.

Maura MacNeil, author of Lost Houses and A History of Water

Many of these poems relate very difficult stories and explore challenging subjects, but far from weighing down his readers, Corey Cook shines light on those dark moments with courage, sensitivity, and skill. I feel greatly heartened by his willingness to do such hard emotional work, so successfully, in this fine collection.

Martha Christina, author of Against Detachment and

Staying Found

Corey Cook writes in a conversational tone and gets to the point without wasting words. You might think it's an easy style, yet he always finds a line to stop you in your tracks, to knock the wind out of you, and to feel you must read the poem straight through again. Like waves that tumble shards of glass in their surf: "Waves that will soften / their sharp edges... // Transform them into / things to hold on to / Things to cherish," his poems leave you with something to think about, something to keep and show to others.

Alarie Tennille, author of Waking on the Moon and Running

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