Body Painting

By Jane Hilberry

"If this is the book of the body, its lineaments are those of not only erotic but spiritual desire. Here friends and lovers, mothers and children, intermingle as in the morning light and shadow of a forgotten room, and the source of that light is Hilberry's very distinctive lyric voice, constantly surprising us with its subdued wit and deep understanding of what it means to be human."

Description by B. H. Fairchild

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1597090131
• ISBN13: 9781597090131
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Red Hen Press
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.1" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

Wow.

Jane Hilberry, Body Painting (Red Hen Press, 2005) One look at the cover of Body Painting-- a lush blonde wearing nothing but, as the title suggests, a fantastic coat of what looks like watercolor-- and you know this is not going to be your usual book of poetry. And it is anything but that. Hilberry's poems alternate between (ad often combine) the sexual and the spiritual, offering up a truly erotic reading experience delivered by someone who actually knows what she's doing with a pen: "I have a tone inside me that has not been sounded. Or only once or twice. Once she went straight to the center of me, once she could have walked through me like a tunnel. She could have seen sky on the other side of me. I could have washed my hands in sand, then touched her, turned her to sand. I'm the opposite of Midas: I want to touch what's returning to earth. " ("Sand") An absolutely delicious book, highly recommended. ****

Body Painting

Jane Hilberry paints life's hues with humor,desire, grief. Family and friends, indeed even lovers passing through are described and cherished. The memories of a girl, and a woman's sexuality are placed in context of a life imagined and real. These poems evoke the livings of each of us in a beautiful style and sensitivity.

Logic of the Heart

"The heart has its logic, which logic can't comprehend." Through rich, powerful language and brilliant metaphor, Jane Hilberry beautifully conveys the logic of the heart. Honest, vulnerable, courageous, sensuous, and funny, the poems bring readers closer to the heart of their humanity.

Moving and Sensuous

These poems blew me away. They capture in exquisitely beautiful language so many experiences that I've had or can relate to. There were moments when reading these poems when a stab went through my heart. Although there's a lot of pain in the poems there's a humor and lightness that moves through them also. I appreciated her frank exploration of sexuality, grief and human relationships.