Reviews for Red Strawberry Leaf: Selected Poems, 1994-2001

The average rating for Red Strawberry Leaf: Selected Poems, 1994-2001 based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-08-09 00:00:00 Marc Staley sigh... what happens when angry poets forgive and grow soft....you can read this if you like well-rendered sensitivity in the face of the slow decay of the body of a parent. i prefer her sally mann-ish fetishization of her children's bodies and her own child-rage. but i'm unpleasant.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-06-17 00:00:00 Jaime Ryan Heintz I should start a "Death" shelf for Goodreads. I gravitate toward so many books, apparently, about death and the dying. This book of poems struck me in a raw, tangible way, reading it so fresh on the heels of my beloved grandmother's passing. Sharon Olds writes plainly and beautifully as she watches her father die and then copes with his absence and all that entails. She captures all of the gut-wrenching elements of grief with honesty and poise. "His Stillness" The doctor said to my father, "You asked me to tell you when nothing more could be done. That's what I'm telling you now." My father sat quite still, as he always did, especially not moving his eyes. I had thought he would rave if he understood he would die, wave his arms and cry out. He sat up, thin, and clean, in his clean gown, like a holy man. The doctor said, "There are things we can do which might give you time, but we cannot cure you." My father said, "Thank you." And he sat, motionless, alone, with the dignity of a foreign leader. I sat beside him. This was my father. He had known he was mortal. I had feared they would have to tie him down. I had not remembered he had always held still and kept silent to bear things, the liquor a way to keep still. I had not known him. My father had dignity. At the end of his life his life began to wake in me.