First published 1976
Forché's verses grow from the rhythms of seasons and generations, yet they wrestle with stories of sudden departure. Grandparents fled Czechoslovakia and Kiev in haste, leaving behind everything familiar. Now their descendants face the ongoing losses that follow such uprootings. Elders disappear from family circles. People continue leaving, whether by choice or force. The poems refuse to romanticize nature or assume that harmony comes easily. Instead, they demand a precarious faith to balance the brutal facts of both natural and human history against moments of startling beauty. This tension between harshness and wonder shapes every verse, as Forché searches for a deeper accord that goes beyond simple acceptance of natural patterns or ethnic identity. The struggle to find equilibrium between ugliness and beauty creates the emotional weight that drives this collection.
Genres: literary-fiction, family-life, 20th-century, poetry, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, generational-trauma
Setting: Czechoslovakia, Kiev
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
78 pages · Paperback · Yale University Press