This month for Poetry 365 we’re highlighting the remarkable debut collection from poet Eleanor Chai. In Standing Water, Chai takes readers to a small Paris museum where she encounters a bust of Japaneses dancer Little Hanako by sculptor Auguste Rodin that triggers painfully complex memories of the mother erased from the poet’s life since her childhood. Described by Mark Strand as “a masterpiece,” Colm Toibin declared, “The last poems of the book are outstanding, chiseled and perfect, line by line by line. Standing Water is a great achievement.” So don’t miss this hauntingly honest debut, sample the opening poem below, and make sure to stop back next month for Poetry 365.
Poetry 365: Eleanor Chai
July 25, 2016