Nan Lundeen's powerful collection of thirty-eight poems introduces the reader to women who refuse to wear pantyhose, who rebuff the duty train, and who discover the magic of a redemptive red bra.
Her poetry celebrates the goddess in her many guises, the Earth swathed in its solstitial shrouds, and the power of a women's circle. It reclaims the Persephone-Demeter myth as two independent women and celebrates the “unafraid dark soul” on the longest night of the year.
The ancient Eastern goddess, Quan Yin, speaks "soft as a bell offshore/soft as a white petal/dusting cheek of Muse." The Earth awakens in April and, "the trees -- the narrow trees/seemingly dead/everywhere singing with frothy green."
Lundeen's poetry honors the robust women of her Iowa heritage -- her late grandmother who becomes an angel, stirring soap in the farmhouse basement as an Easter ice storm rages; her mother, Marian, who refuses to relinquish her singing voice to dementia; and Aunt Geneva, who struggles like a sumo wrestler with her corset on her wedding day.
She finds spirituality in simple scenes, "The praying tree/one gray arm curved upward/as if she were a war veteran/who refuses to relinquish faith," and she finds grace in her little dog who sits beside her while she brushes her teeth: "Nobody else I know will do that."
About the Poet
Nan Lundeen’s Black Dirt Days: Poems as Memoir, and Moo of Writing: How to Milk Your Potential were finalists in the 2016 National Indie Excellence Awards. Her poems have appeared in Yemassee, Illuminations, The Petigru Review, Connecticut River Review, and others. Her latest book of poetry is Gaia's Cry.
A retired award-winning journalist, she holds an MA in communications from Western Michigan University. She and her husband, freelance photographer Ron DeKett, live in southwestern Michigan among deer, wild turkey, hummingbirds, and wildflowers. She's a member of the Berrien UU Fellowship. Hear her read from her book of poems, The Pantyhose Declarations, at www.nanlundeen.com.
