Index of Women

Gerstler (Scattered at Sea) brings her customary wit, playfulness, and emotional range to poems that expose the contradictions in ancient and contemporary concepts of femininity. These poems—some dramatic monologues, others more quiet lyrics—vividly render their chief thematic concern. Unsatisfied with “these endless ill-fitting versions of womanhood,” Gerstler summons the voices of women “such as she, swallower of swords, sorrow, and semen... she who is a physical stud.” Gerstler subverts the conceit of women as objects in a poem in which a tube of toothpaste, a lamp, and a butter knife all begin to criticize the speaker who muses, “How long have objects been/ nursing these grievances?” Another poem reverses the male gaze, resulting in the male object crystallizing into just another piece of art to be consumed by hungry connoisseurs: “We imbibe his rich shadow. Milky light/ showers down through skylights and we guzzle/ that too, open mouths glowing like kilns.” This wonderfully intelligent and imaginative collection upends conventional gender norms in favor of illustrating womanhood in all its idiosyncrasy, complexity, and fullness. (Apr.)