The Volcano and After: Selected and New Poems

Drawing from six collections written between 2002 and 2019, this rich selected presents some of Ostriker’s finest poems alongside new work. As Ostriker notes in the preface: “Some stories have endings, and some do not have endings, at least not yet. The story of this volume has no ending yet.” Her poems ask questions about the spirit, thought, and being. In “Prelude: Volcano,” the speaker confides, “Let me speak it to you in a whisper/ I am like a volcano/ that has blown itself/ out of the water.” The poem turns self-referential: “A woman looked at my poem. What is a volcano? She wanted to know. What makes you like a volcano? What would the world be like without the myth of Atlantis?” In “What the Butterfly Is Thinking,” the speaker outlines what differentiates her from the butterfly: “Not anxiety-prone like me, it is not thinking about extending its brief life/ or the serenade of iridescent blue patches on its taffeta wings// or the war. Or any of the other wars. Or the moon afloat on winter water.” This volume offers an engaging look at Ostriker’s long and rich career. (Sept.)