Enter the Chrysanthemum

By Fiona Tinwei Lam

Enter the Chrysanthemum is a luminous collection of poems about family, love and loss. Employing precise imagery and concise language, Lam plumbs and mines ordinary events and experiences to find a central core of poetic insight and sometimes harrowing truth. Whether written from the vantage point of a young child observing her parents, a single parent struggling to raise a child, or a daughter watching a parent's decline and death, these poems reconnect us to what it means to be human. Enter the Chrysanthemum is Lam's second book of poetry.

"The poems follow a sonata-like structure, with four interlocking "movements", each building and spiraling upon the last. The motif of the chrysanthemum serves as the frame for the collection, shifting from a symbol of loss and absence to one of grace. Besides being a chronicle of a journey, I see this book as a tribute to my parents, and to parents and families in general, with all their flaws, passions, longings and struggles."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 189475932X
• ISBN13: 9781894759328
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Caitlin Press
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 7.9"