Homecoming: New and Collected Poems Book

This was an alright read for me. A bit too tentative in quite a few of the poems. For instance, How I Learned to Sweep felt like there was a lot more to be said and I wanted that. Dusting, on the other hand, epitomized the Housekeeping series. I appreciated the sentiment behind her Housekeeping poems - trying to exist as a person outside the realm of domesticity and negotiating that with the mother/daughter relationship which seems to exists solely within that realm. I got the feeling of the mindlessness, suffocation and control of domesticity while reading these. And Orchids, did a good job of painting the pretty picture that its meant to be from the outside looking in, i think.

Heroines sees her continuing that journey but this time romance and the perceptions of romance serve as the predominant barrier. A bit of an anomaly in the series, Woman Friend, looking at the love and friendship between two women, takes a break from romantic love. 33 is interesting, her exploration of her humanity and its place in the world around her.

In terms of form, there's a bit of play here. Charges didn't really hold up.

On the whole, I might come back to this to reread a specific poem but ... its not a volume I hold dear.