Subterranean: Poems

By Jill Bialosky

Book Overview

Jill Bialosky follows her acclaimed debut collection, The End of Desire, with this powerful sequence of poems that probes the subterranean depths of eros. Gerald Stern has called Bialosky "the poet of the secret garden, the place, at once, of grace and sadness," and here she enters that garden again, blending the classical with the contemporary in bold considerations of desire, fertility, virginity, and childbirth. Written against the idealizations of romantic love and motherhood, she tells of the loss of one child and the birth of another, the fierce passions of life before children, the seductions of suicide, and the comforts of art. Throughout, she braids and unbraids the distinct yet often inseparable themes of motherhood, love, and sexuality. "When he comes to me," she writes,

half-filled glass
in his hand, wanting
me to touch him, I hear
you stir in your crib. I know what your body
feels like.
The soft skin of a flower, not bruised, not yet
in torment . . .

Subterranean is the moving and intimate account of the emergence of a female psyche. Like the figures of Persephone and Demeter, who appear in various forms in these poems, Bialosky finds a strange beauty in grief, and emerges from the realms of temptation with insight and distinction.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 037570972X
• ISBN13: 9780375709722
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Perpetuation of the Subliminal

There are many emotions and strategies present in Jill Bialosky's Subterranean. The work is very careful, full of presence and reality, and pays great attention to the perpetuation of the subliminal. I think it very important that we as readers remember not to just read a title but to consider it part of the poem and of the work as a whole. Begin with the title of the work: subterranean. The definition can simply mean "underneath the Earth's surface". However, there is a definition that seems to be much more suited to Bialosky's work: "lying beneath what is revealed or avowed, especially being deliberately concealed". There is this ever-growing need throughout the book to uncover the hidden aspects of our lives. It begins with the first poem, aptly named "Subterranean". We are continually presented with poems that force discovery and want for birth, for renewal. I had an endless feeling of pulling, of something beneath the words, that there was a force within each poem begging to be discovered. This wonderful intensity pulls the reader through the work, forcefully. You want to read, want to find the cause...you want to know what's underneath the surface. There's a pulsing in this book, a quickening of language, followed by languid urgency, and then a punctuation of thought; a rise and fall, push and pull of poetic and emotional elements. Bialosky's voice is one that is fresh and unique. Her use of the short-line style brings such poignancy and subtle impact to her work while her languid long line poems present in the latter half of Subterranean exhibit her simple, yet brilliant use of language. The connectedness of her imagery never ceases to form beautiful scenes that help in the smooth presentation of intense emotion. I would recommend Jill Bialosky's latest book to anyone yearning for a fresh voice with a unique and versatile style. Chilling, provocative, resonant, Subterranean is an experience for any reader eager for a taste of unique poetic storytelling.